Thursday, April 30, 2015

Grooveshark's illegal music streaming service is extinct

NBA All-Star Game 2015

Death's icy grip hit more than just Secret this week; Grooveshark is shutting down too. Last year, judges found the music streaming service guilty of mass copyright infringement for hosting illegal uploads of songs from Jay-Z, Madonna and others. As Recode notes, however, something a little more recent was the reason behind the actual closure. Escape Media (Grooveshark's owner) had a few options in court with Universal Music Group, Sony Music and Warner Music Group last week: either pay a possible maximum of $736 million in fines or accept a settlement with record labels to hand over its website, apps and patents.

Should Grooveshark violate this settlement, it'll owe the labels $75 million. As a mea culpa Grooveshark took to its website and suggested using Deezer, Google Play or Spotify among others in its stead. Curiously absent? Tidal. Regardless, it offers the following:

If you love music and respect the artists, songwriters and everyone else ho makes great music possible, use a licensed service that compensates artists and other rights holders.

In case you were wondering, yes, this means Broadcasts isn't going to happen.

[Image credit: Getty Images]

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Via: Recode

Source: Grooveshark

Mozilla plans to drop HTTP support to make the web more secure

A number of internet organizations and even the government want websites to use encryption by default in the future, and from the sound of it, Mozilla shares their view. The non-profit has announced that it plans to limit the capabilities of "the non-secure web" (aka websites that don't use HTTPS), in order to encourage a more widespread use of encryption. Mozilla has a two-element approach in place, one of which is making all new features of the Firefox browser and its other products available only to secure websites when we reach a certain date. The org will consult its users -- just like it did before it ultimately decided it wants to stop supporting unencrypted sites in the long run -- not only to pinpoint that date, but also to decide what features are considered "new" by that time.

The other one is to gradually phase out "access to browser features for non-secure websites, especially features that pose risks to users' security and privacy." Mozilla knows that will cause many websites to break on its browser, though, so it promises to monitor the situation and attempt to strike a balance. We'll likely hear more about the plan after the org submits its proposals to the W3C WebAppSec Working Group and when implementation begins. For now, you can read more about Mozilla's plan on its Security Blog.

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Source: Mozilla

Tesla wants its Powerwall to save the grid and your bank account

Our lust for electricity is insatiable. At night we connect a hydra of wires to our phones, computers, smartwatches and tablets. They sip at the electrons being pumped into our homes, filling their batteries to be ready for another day without being tethered to a wall. Tesla wants your house to be ready. Ready for power outages and heat waves. The company says its Powerwall home battery system can untether your home from the power grid for a few hours, which might not sound like much, but could have huge implications for the way we power our lives.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk introduced the Powerwall at his company's design studio in Southern California. He said it's a "whole integrated system that just works and is connected to the internet." The battery packs are lithium-ion cells with a liquid thermal-control system. Powerwall -- which Tesla has been testing with select customers for a year -- connects to the internet so it can track power usage and share that information with utilities.

Before you start trying to purchase the Powerwall from the Tesla site, hold off. The device will only be available via distributors, with the 10kWh version offered to installers for $3,500 and the 7kWh model will cost $3,000. This doesn't include the cost of a DC-to-AC inverter to work with your home. (Solar cell customers will already have that inverter.) Distributors can lease the Powerwall to customers and the device will come with a 10-year guaranteed life with warranty, and will start to ship in late summer.

Tesla says the 10kWh version is more for those on the grid with the ability to run a home once the power goes out. The 7kWh version is geared toward solar cell users wanting to tap into the sun's power during the evening.



The Powerwall is, at its core, a giant battery like the one found in your smartphone. Like your phone, when it's not connected to the grid, it still supplies energy. Currently any extra power that's produced by the utility companies is wasted; power stations ramp up supply as needed. For alternative energy sources, if the wind or sun is providing more power than what the grid requires, all that energy is similarly wasted. The state of California wants public utilities to start storing energy by 2024 to reduce that waste. Tesla's solution distributes that energy storage to individuals, giving them the opportunity to save some cash and be prepared in case of a power outage.

Tesla made the electric car more than a vehicle for environmentalists because it made it cool. It's going to be a bit tougher to make the idea of a home battery cool. But if the system manages to save you money and it means power outages can be shrugged off, then Tesla might have another hit.

Developing

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Source: Tesla

Daily Roundup: Apple Watch review, Windows 10 and more!

Ready to get caught up on some of today's top stories? Find out what we thought about the Apple Watch in our review, learn about what's changed in Windows 10 from Microsoft's design lead and read why Secret is shutting down. Get all the details about these stories and more in the Daily Roundup.

Apple Watch review: a status symbol for iOS devotees

Mankind's fascination with watches capable of more than simply telling the time is nothing new. But recently, our collective interest in intelligent timepieces has spiked, and we have more and more powerful wrist-worn computers to choose from than ever - whether made by startups with record-setting Kickstarter campaigns or the biggest names in consumer electronics. Of course, the biggest name of all, Apple, had yet to release one of its own. Well, the Watch has arrived, and its maker has loftier aspirations for it than the smartwatches preceding it.

Windows 10 design lead explains what's changed (and what hasn't)

Albert Shum, the design team lead for Microsoft's OS team, has outlined through some of the decisions made in its new OS. He reiterates that - especially now Windows 10 is out in the open - the work here isn't yet done, with the blog post focusing on where the team's received the most.. "feedback", including the new menu options found on mobile iterations.

Secret's out: The rise and fall of the anonymous social app

Secret, the app that was practically synonymous with the anonymous-app movement, is shutting down. David Byttow, Secret's co-founder and CEO, explained in a Medium post yesterday that the reason for the shuttering is that the app no longer represents the vision he had when he started it in January last year. And if the lackluster activity in my Secret feed of late is any indication, I'm guessing the severe decline in users is a reason too.

Jeff Bezos' first proper test rocket has successfully launched

Elon Musk may be the most famous tech billionaire with an interest in spaceflight, but he's certainly not the only one. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos also has a company, Blue Origin, which is doing similar research into reusable craft to get us to-and-from the heavens. The normally secretive outfit has just revealed that its first test vehicle, New Shepard, made arguably its most important, partially successful test flight yesterday.

Living with Samsung's Galaxy Note Edge in an S6 world

I was torn this past winter. I knew the Galaxy S6 was imminent and that there'd likely be a model with a curved screen, but I was dying to see what it was like to live with its bigger precursor, the Galaxy Note Edge. Would I feel a twinge of regret when the shiny new Samsung handset arrived, even if the older phone still had some advantages? There was only one way to find out. I spent a few weeks with the Note Edge to see not just whether I would enjoy that uniquely shaped screen on its own terms, but whether it would still hold its own against the faster, curvier Galaxy S6 Edge.

Watch Tesla's souped-up Model S beat the world's fastest sedan

Tesla's Model S P85D is quick. Or is it fast? Can it be both? Ever since Elon Musk unveiled the company's speediest car ever, it's become the fashionable thing to take the P85D to a drag strip and pit it against some old-school gas-powered muscle. Motor Trend did the same, choosing the all-American Dodge Charger Hellcat (the world's fastest sedan) as the Model S' opponent. Now, it's not the first time that these cars have gone head-to-head over a quarter mile, but when they first met, the 707-horsepower Hellcat had such a dismal run that it needed an official rematch with a better driver behind the wheel.

Play classic MS-DOS games without even leaving Twitter

Although they went live at the very start of the year, it was like all of our Christmases had come at once when Archive.org added 2,400 playable MS-DOS games to its website. Retro titles like Maniac Mansion, Oregon Trail and Doom are all available, with the only downside being that you have to visit each specific game's page to play them. However, the eagle-eyed folk at Wired noticed these have recently started working on Twitter, meaning you can get all of your social networking done while simultaneously saving Sandy Pantz from the evil Dr Fred.

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Ford explains why Sync supports Apple and Google car apps

Ford GT Price

With both Apple and Google wrangling to become the infotainment center of your next new car, Ford will be choosing neither. Or both, depending on how you look at it. During an interview with Re/code, Ford CEO Mark Fields provided some details on how his company will be leveraging its in-house designed Sync system to act as middleman between smart devices and vehicles.

Like many other carmakers, Ford will equally support both Apple's CarPlay and Google's Android Auto services, but Sync is still the primary system. The reason is simple, Ford CTO Raj Nair explained to Re/code, "We want to make sure you are not pushed into a decision on a $40,000 car based on your $200 smartphone." And since neither Apple's or Google's offerings can do everything that the other can, Sync will be able to leverage the features of either regardless which OS drivers use. As such, Ford is touting a high level of flexibility with Sync -- like letting drivers navigate with Google Maps through their phone but still play Sirius stations using the in-dash receiver.

When the Sync 3 platform debuts this summer, it promises a better touchscreen than its predecessor, new apps and the ability for future updates to occur over Wi-Fi, not just via the OBD-II port or USB. Ford is also working on adding cellular capabilities to its vehicles, and has its own tech for btoh semi- and fully-autonomous driving, though there's no word on when those features will actually roll out.

[Image credit: Andrew A. Nelles/Associated Press]

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Source: Re/Code

Xbox One game streaming on Windows 10 is a killer app

With the release of Windows 10, Sony won't be the only company to offer game streaming from its consoles. Today we finally got our hands on Windows 10's Xbox One game streaming feature, which lets you bring your entire Xbox gaming experience to any PC running the new OS. And even in its early state, it looks like it will satisfy even the most demanding gamers. Microsoft made a risky bet by demoing the feature with Sunset Overdrive, a fast-paced game where you'd notice the slightest hint of slowdown. And as you can see in the video below, it's virtually indistinguishable from the native Xbox One experience while running on a Surface Pro 3.

Xbox One Game Streaming on Windows 10

Windows 10 streamed Sunset Overdrive at its full resolution, and there weren't any major issues or delatys. Having spent dozens of hours with the game on my Xbox One, I didn't notice much of a difference playing it streamed. All of its acrobatic maneuvers and twitch-heavy gunplay felt as responsive as ever. Best of all, you don't need any crazy hardware to stream games with Windows 10. The demo was running on a fairly typical Intel Core i5 system, and it can run on even slower computers if they have some form of H.264 encoding (because the stream is coming over as a video file). Naturally, your Xbox One gets locked down when you're streaming something, since it's still doing the heavy lifting.

So far, Windows 10's game streaming only works with an Xbox One on your local network. But according to Kevin Unangst, senior director of marketing for Microsoft Studios, the company could eventually implement remote play. That's something Sony already offers with the PlayStation 4 (and 3, to a lesser extent) over its Vita handheld and some Android devices. But for many people, streaming a game on a PC they already own sounds a lot more useful than having to buy a separate device.

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Here's what happens when a lithium-ion battery overheats

Lithium ion batteries are practically ubiquitous; they power everything from laptops and cell phones to cameras and tablets. But before they can start providing the juice for bigger and more demanding applications, research about their failure needs to happen. That's where the fine folks at University College London come in -- they've used 3D-and-thermal imaging to track exactly what happens when the power cells overheat, inside and out. As you can see in the GIF above, the results aren't pretty. After cranking the heat on a pair of the batteries to 250+ degrees Celsius (482 degrees Fahrenheit) and keeping an eye on them with the aforementioned techniques, researchers witnessed one of the batteries blow its top. Prior to that happening, during what's known as "thermal runaway," the core collapsed.

What's that mean?

Well, according to the paper published in Nature, the change in temperature that lead to a destabilizing further change in temperature elevates the risk for internal short circuiting and damaging any nearby components. That only happened in a battery without internal support, though. The cell that wasn't lacking such a feature was a bit different. After hitting about 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 degrees Fahrenheit) the copper internals melted, the heat spread outward and caused thermal runaway. It sounds quite a bit less violent, actually.

This isn't the sort of thing that would happen under normal operating conditions at all, and UCL's Dr. Paul Shearing readily admits that. However! He says that this sort of testing provides invaluable knowledge regarding how the lithium-ion cells fail and will hopefully help how safety aspects are designed and considered in the future. I'd imagine that Boeing is paying pretty close attention to these experiments. Call it a hunch.

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Via: University College London

Source: Nature

Where to watch Tesla's 'The Missing Piece' livestream

Tesla is known for its amazingly quick electric vehicles, but if the chatter around today's event is true, the Elon Musk-led company will be introducing a home battery solution this evening. The livestream will be viewable on the car company's site beginning at 8 pm Pacific / 11 pm Eastern. So put on your pajamas and snuggle up with your computer to see if you'll be adding a battery to your home in the not-so-distant future.

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Source: Tesla

Microsoft wants third-party apps for its fitness tracker

Microsoft Band users might get to enjoy a lot more third-party apps in the near future. Redmond has released the full Band SDK, giving developers power to create fully functional apps for the fitness tracker. The company already launched a preview version back in February, which allowed devs to create tiles that send glanceable notifications to the wearable. However, that only gave them access to sensors and other basic features. According to the general manager of Microsoft's personal devices division, Zulfi Alam, the newer SDK lets developers take advantage of all the device's features/functions and comes with the ability to:

  • Build apps that support Windows.
  • Create own custom layouts for pages on third-party tiles using icons, text, buttons, and barcodes for payment options.
  • Receive events and button-click callbacks from the Microsoft Band to the phone app. If you press a button on a page inside your tile, the app will know which button was pressed.
  • Connect to the Band from background tasks.
  • Tap into calorie subscription from the Microsoft Band.

Since the Band syncs with Windows, Apple and Android devices, Microsoft uploaded separate versions for all three platforms. Hopefully, developers design their applications for all three, so no user gets left behind.

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Source: Microsoft, Microsoft Conversations

Turn your home into a haunted house with AR game 'Night Terrors'

You're home alone. It's the dead of night and all of the lights are off; you creep down the hallway with one hand dragging along the wall, your phone serving as a makeshift flashlight. You hear a young girl's voice whisper from the bedroom in front of you and the hair on the back of your neck stands up straight. You pause. Your heart pounds. A dull ringing assaults your ears. You creep forward, holding the phone higher, when suddenly -- a high-pitched shriek as your phone's light starts rapidly flashing and a deformed, undead monster barrels down the hallway directly toward you. You drop your phone. Game over.

That's basically the premise of Night Terrors, an in-development, augmented reality game for mobile devices that maps out the entirety of your house and fills it with terrifying creatures, turning a home into a real-life survival-horror game. It's currently looking for $70,000 on Indiegogo -- developers say they've already created a system that understands spatial elements such as walls and complex floorplans, and they're using physical special effects rather than CGI. It sounds like an innovative and truly horrifying project, even as its narrative plays off of an overused gaming conceit: Save the girl and be the hero. That's so close to being cliche, it's scary.

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Source: Night Terrors on Indiegogo

Our first close look at Microsoft's HoloLens

It's only been a few months since Microsoft introduced the augmented reality HoloLens headset, and now we've got a close look at the unit to show you. We don't have much to show other than these pictures at the moment -- we couldn't take pictures of the early dev unit we tried on back in January -- but check back for more details shortly.

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Roman school kids give the Pope a drone of his own

Vatican Pope

From pizza to Fiats, people love giving gifts to Pope Francis. Most recently, students from a Jesuit school in Rome presented the Holy See with a customized quadcopter painted in the colors of the the Vatican flag and replete with the Papal emblem. According to a statement from the school, the UAV symbolizes "the values of technology in the service of man." The school continued, "drones have proved useful to check the condition of structures [in quake-ravaged Nepal] and study paths from bringing relief to people who need this in remote villages." There's no word yet on whether Pope Francis will have the time for flying lessons. There's a chance that he may auction off the UAV to raise money for the poor, as he did back in January with the Fiat and a number of other expensive gifts. Or, like the pizza, he could just be saving it for later.

[Image credit: The Associated Press]

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Via: Washington Post

Source: Ansa

'OK Google, Shazam this song'

Siri started handling song queries when iOS 8 arrived, and now Google's voice commands recognize Shazam as a prompt to do the same on Android. That's right, Android devices now recognize the "Shazam" command, in addition to "recognize" or "name" for "track," "song" or "tune" identification. It's not the only one either, as a few other apps like NPR One, TuneIn, Zillow, Flixster and TripAdvisor (a complete list is here) are also enjoying early access to the Custom Voice Actions feature. Previously you could search apps that way, but with this access developers can get more specific. It seems like the perfect kind of feature to use along with something like Android Auto, just when your phone is slightly out of reach.

With Shazam, after you've spoken the phrase the app will launch, do the heavy lifting and save the results for listening later. We tried it out, and the app only launched for commands that included "Shazam," as in "OK Google, Shazam this song." Phrases like "OK Google, name this song" kept the process inside the confines of the voice search interface. As you might expect, the music-searching software is one of the many third-party apps that display info cards in Google Now, and there's easy access to listen, stream and purchase from Google Play Music. Other devs that want in are encouraged to apply here, and explain what kind of commands their apps will need.

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Source: Shazam, Android Developers (G+)

Windows 10 'on track' for summer on PCs, other platforms come later

Microsoft Windows 10

We still don't have an official release date for Windows 10, but Microsoft maintains it's on track for release this summer. That's according to Joe Belfiore, its corporate vice president of operating systems, who spoke to media earlier today. You'll have to wait a bit longer to get Windows 10 on your phone and Xbox, though. Belfiore noted that bringing the new OS to PCs is Microsoft's main focus at the moment, but we'll likely see it hit those other platforms in the fall. He also included HoloLens among his list of other Windows 10 platforms, which could be a hint that we'll actually see it this fall. Or maybe that's just very wishful thinking.

Windows 10 also won't have all of the features we've heard about when it finally hits PCs, Belfiore added. For example, we likely won't be seeing any Win32 desktop apps in the Windows Store at launch. While slightly disappointing, that's something we'll probably have to get used to. Microsoft is playing with the notion of "Windows as a service," which means it's never quite done. Sure, that's not very different from how OS updates have worked in the past, but now it seems Microsoft is being a lot more flexible about how it's building Windows.

"Our intent is to make this [Windows 10] the largest single developer platform that developers can target," Belfiore said. So it's no wonder Microsoft laid out an ambitious goal of bringing Windows 10 to a billion devices in the next few years.

[Photo credit: AP Photo/Elaine Thompson]

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Microsoft can guess your age using facial recognition

Since we're right smack in the middle of Microsoft's BUILD dev conference, the company's showing off one of it's Azure APIs with a site you can put to the test. How-Old.net allows you to upload a picture before the site recognizes faces and analyzes them to determine their age. No, I'm not 41... I'm 31, and that picture is from over two years ago. Other folks here at Engadget received results closer to their real age, but it made us wonder: why not use a web cam to snap a picture under current conditions. You know, after I've had a chance to apply my daily dose of wrinkle remover. Perhaps that option on the way.

The site is powered by Microsoft Azure's Face APIs that not only recognize features and predict both gender and age. They can also group faces and determine if someone in multiple pictures is the same person. If you'll recall, Windows 10 will use facial recognition as a log-in option, and the tools that this Azure API offers would certainly come in handy for organizing that personal photo album -- expanding features already available in OneDrive.

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Source: How Old Robot

Valve releases a kit for making virtual reality apps

HTC's Vive VR headset

Eager to build a game or 3D modelling tool that takes advantage of HTC's Vive and other SteamVR-friendly virtual reality headsets? It's time to get cracking. Valve has released a software development kit that lets apps use SteamVR hardware, including Valve's controller and room-scale Lighthouse tracking. On top of that, the platform now works nicely with both the Unity game engine (through a plugin) and Unreal Engine 4. It'll be a long while before you can actually run programs built on this code -- the VR devices have yet to reach many developers, let alone the public -- but this at least gets the ball rolling.

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Via: VentureBeat

Source: Steam Community

California ACLU chapter unveils police-monitoring video app

US-POLICE-CRIME-RACISM

In an effort to reduce police abuses that have occurred with frightening regularity throughout the US, the Southern California branch of the ACLU has just released a new smartphone app designed to securely record your next interaction with law enforcement. Sure, you could simply snap photos and take video using your onboard camera. But what happens when the cop smashes your phone (as one did in South Gate, California) or tries to delete the data (as another attempted in Virginia Beach, Virginia)? Instead of simply saving a copy to your local drive, the Mobile Justice CA app automatically forwards a copy of your video directly to the ACLU for review. Not only that, but it also alerts nearby users that also have the app installed that an incident is going down. The app is available on both iOS and Android, but is only for California residents. ACLU chapters in Oregon, Missouri and New York have already released similar apps.

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Source: The Hill

Engadget Live is back and headed to Boston, LA and Austin!

The weather's getting warm, which means here at Engadget HQ, we're already planning our summer getaways. For us, that means we're gearing up for the return of Engadget Live, where we throw a series of events in different cities across the US, allowing you to kick back, meet some of your favorite Engadget editors in the flesh, and try out some hot new gadgets first-hand. It's like a reader meetup, only with more high-tech toys on hand. Oh, and a bunch of giveaways too -- we always come ready to give away some free swag.

The tour kicks off July 17th in Boston, followed by LA on August 21st and wraps up in Austin on October 16th. Just hit the linked locations above, and you can reserve your tickets to any Engadget Live for free. We'll have more details on each event closer to the actual date, so stay tuned for more updates. That said, if you happen to be a Bostonian, Angelino or Austinite, we suggest you mark your calendar now, and that you plan on getting to each Live event early -- the crowds often stretch around the block. Oh, and if you're a company interested in sponsoring or participating in any Engadget Live, drop us a line at sponsors@engadget.com?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&ncid=rss_full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget. Get ready to party!

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Obama's 2013 'BRAIN' initiative results in remote-controlled mice

The first results to stem from President Barack Obama's 2013 "Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies" initiative are in, Reuters reports. As noted in the journal Neuron, scientists were able to manipulate the brain circuitry of lab mice, making them move, stay still, eat or leave their bowls of food behind. This was accomplished through the use of DREADDs, "designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs." The DREADDs system uses genetically engineered brain neurons to create custom receptors that lock into manmade molecules, activating whichever neuron scientists target. The DREADD method is a noninvasive form of behavior control, first introduced about a decade ago as a way to turn neurons on or off -- the newest DREADDs are the first to be able to do both.

Researchers hope to better understand the brain wiring behind certain behaviors, with the hope of eventually creating therapies to treat neurological conditions. This marks a shift away from seeing these illnesses as "chemical imbalances," and more as cases of miswiring or misfiring neurons, Reuters reports. The BRAIN initiative as a whole hopes to uncover the sources of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, schizophrenia, depression, PTSD and other still-mysterious brain disorders.

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Source: Neuron, Reuters

Uber's panic button can let cops in India know where you are

India Uber Asia

Earlier this year, Uber launched an in-app panic button for people in India, which lets any user easily alert local police in case of an emergency. And now this safety feature is getting improved. The ride-sharing service announced today that the real-time SOS alert can start being accessed by law enforcement officials, allowing them to track the exact location of a passenger who may require assistance during a trip. Previously, the panic button would only connect Uber users with the cops over a phone call, so this is designed to save time for potential victims -- and that could turn out to be life-saving.

Uber has been testing the new feature in the city of Kolkata, but the goal is to make it available in many places across India over the next few weeks. What's more, the company says that it will be bringing more safety solutions to other countries "in the coming months." Let's hope it happens sooner rather than later.

[Image credit: Associated Press]

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Source: Uber

Department of Energy 3D prints an all-electric Shelba Cobra

Carroll Shelby's iconic Cobra roadster has been making jaws drop for half a century now. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Cobra's debut the US Department of Energy built one of its own. The new Cobra's entire chassis and bodywork--from the passenger monocoque to the grille and headrests--were 3D printed from carbon fiber reinforced ABS using the Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM) machine at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. And while the exterior of the new Cobra is nearly indistinguishable from its predecessor, they look nothing alike under the hood. The DoE's Cobra is, in fact, completely electric.

It's outfitted with a 100-kilowatt electric motor that hits 60 mph from a standstill in under five seconds. This "laboratory-on-wheels," as the DoE describes it, is actually built to accommodate a number of new technologies like motors motor propelled by wide bandgap power electronics, using a simple "plug-n-play" design. In all, the vehicle took a team of six engineers just six weeks to design and print. The DoE's replica made its debut at the Detroit Auto Show back in January. It currently resides at the Department of Energy headquarters in Washington DC.

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Source: US Department of Energy

JXE Streams: Acid Nerve teaches us how to topple 'Titan Souls'

Welcome to the new masochism! For a decade now, games have held our hands and walked us patiently through their soft hallways. Playing BioShock Infinite? Try easy mode, darling. Rollicking your way through New Super Mario Bros. U? Fail too many times and the game will play itself. No more! The new breed of punishers like Bloodborne have brought out the gleeful self-flagellator in everyone. Acid Nerve's Titan Souls is another banner carrier for the new masochism. Don't let its old-school adventure, Zelda-meets-Shadow of the Colossus facade fool you; this is one tough cookie. That's why we're having Acid Nerve, its creators, come on to JXE Streams to teach us how to play.

Titan Souls designer and programmer Mark Foster as well as composer David Fenn will join us live on today's stream! Tune in to Twitch.tv/Joystiq, Engadget.com/gaming or right here in this post starting at 3:30PM ET to chat with the developers and check out the PS4 game.

Dig the stream? Follow us on Twitch and bookmark Engadget.com/gaming to keep track of upcoming shows.

[We're playing Titan Souls on PlayStation 4 streamed through an Elgato Capture HD via OBS at 720p.]

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These surrealist games melt more than clocks

These surrealist games melt more than clocksSome say surrealism was the most influential art movement of the past century and, perhaps unsurprisingly, it's had an effect on video game developers too. The games you'll find below weren't made by Salvador Dalí or M.C. Escher, but the influence those mind-bending artists had is unmistakable. And it's not just limited to endless staircases or clocks melting off the side of a ledge (although those make appearances) in indie games, either. Dream-like visuals and landscapes have dotted the world of blockbuster games too -- not even God of War 3 was immune when it released in 2010. Let's take a mind-bending trip together in the gallery below, shall we?

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Samsung outs Level On wireless headphones for untethered listening

I took Samsung's Level line of "premium" audio gear for a spin last summer, and now the company is adding another wireless model to the set. The Level On Wireless is exactly what the name suggests: a wireless version of the on-ear headphones in the collection. A group of six built-in microphones offer active noise cancellation to keep those loud talkers from killing your vibe. There's also a touch pad on the the outside of one ear cup, handling controls for S Voice, play/pause and skipping tracks so you won't have to pick up your phone. You can also share whatever you're listening to with other Level devices, thanks to the Sound Sharing tool. After spending a few weeks with the initial lineup, the wired Level On cans were my favorite of the bunch, so this new option is a welcome addition. Samsung says you can expect 11 hours of battery life with both Bluetooth and noise cancellation at work here, bumping to 23 hours if you opt for just the wireless connectivity. Unfortunately, there's no word on pricing or availability yet.

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Source: Samsung

Living with Samsung's Galaxy Note Edge in an S6 world

Living with Samsung's Galaxy Note Edge in an S6 world

I was torn this past winter. I knew the Galaxy S6 was imminent and that there'd likely be a model with a curved screen, but I was dying to see what it was like to live with its bigger precursor, the Galaxy Note Edge. Would I feel a twinge of regret when the shiny new Samsung handset arrived, even if the older phone still had some advantages? There was only one way to find out. I spent a few weeks with the Note Edge to see not just whether I would enjoy that uniquely shaped screen on its own terms, but whether it would still hold its own against the faster, curvier Galaxy S6 Edge.

Things didn't look good for the Note Edge at first -- the S6 Edge has a nicer design, hands down. While I prefer the texture of the Note's leather-like plastic back over the S6's glass, that's offset by an asymmetrical shape that's awkward to hold no matter which hand you use. When you combine that with the larger size, it's hard to get a firm grip on the Note without grabbing the screen. There were more than a few times when I worried the device would fly out of my hands, like when I was taking a bumpy bus ride or walking on a less-than-dry sidewalk. The S6 Edge may have two curves instead of one, but its smaller dimensions make it decidedly easier to keep in my palm.

As you probably know, though, the Note Edge has an ace in the hole: expansion. I didn't have a burning need for either microSD storage or a removable battery, since I stream a lot of music and have an external battery in case I need a top-up. Still, it was hard to deny the appeal of adding more storage down the road, or swapping batteries during a long workday. And of course, I can't talk about a Note without mentioning the pen. I only used it once in a blue moon, but it was nice to have for sketching an idea or copying an image.

Performance was a tougher call. The Note Edge may no longer be the most powerful phone in Samsung's roster, but it was still exceptional. The interface was typically glass-smooth, with only the very occasional stutter. And this is the first Samsung camera that I've truly been happy with. Unlike the Galaxy S5, the Note Edge snaps low-light photos I'd be glad to show to friends; I could count on good photos in most conditions. Don't pick up an S6 Edge in hopes of getting a major camera upgrade, then. About my only performance-related gripe with the Note is a battery that doesn't last much longer than a day, which is disappointingly mediocre given the 450mAh capacity improvement over the smaller phone.

Samsung Galaxy Note Edge

Unfortunately, the Note Edge falls down in terms of software -- you know, the one area where it most needs to excel. There's technically more functionality than you get on the S6 Edge, such as alerts, news tickers and shortcuts, but it isn't much of a time-saver in practice. For example, the playback controls are frequently less convenient, not more. I had to swipe the strip two or three times to take a look at music in Sonos or Spotify, while either is just a single flick from the status bar. And sometimes, those edge screen features actually worked against me -- notifications partly obscured running apps, and it was too easy to snap photos by accident with the awkwardly placed shutter button.

It's this clunkiness that ultimately left me disillusioned with the Note Edge, as much as I wanted to like it. Simply put, it felt like the experiment that it is, an exploration of what works (or in this case, doesn't work) with curved screens. The S6 Edge wins out not just because it's easier to hold and has newer components, but because it's more honest about why you'd want curves in the first place: It's about cool looks first, and any extra functionality is merely icing on the cake. While the Note Edge is still very capable, I'd rather get the plainer Galaxy Note 4 or "settle" for the smaller S6 Edge.

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Waze will tweet if there's unusual traffic in your area

Unless you live in California, it's not that often that you make an effort to specifically check the traffic conditions for your morning commute. That's probably because you'll be spending a big chunk of your time with your face buried in Twitter instead. That's why Waze thought it'd be a good idea to launch a traffic alerts program on the social network, called Unusual Traffic. The system compares current journey times with historical data and, when there's a noticeable difference, will send a tweet letting you know.

The company has set up more than 50 different accounts, each one focusing on a specific metro area, including Atlanta, London and Buenos Aires. If there's more information available like a faster alternative route or the cause of the blockage, then that information will also be included. That way, all you'll have to do is favorite that specific account to make sure you never get stuck in traffic again, except all of the times that you do, obviously.

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Source: Waze

Apple and IBM customize iPads to help the elderly in Japan

The partnership between tech giants Apple and IBM, which began last year, isn't just about playing nice with each other. In Japan, the two companies just announced an initiative that will deliver up to 5 million iPads to Japanese senior citizens, at no cost. Apple, IBM and the Japan Post Group, a local corporation that's also involved with the project, say the goal is to "improve the quality of life" for millions of elderly people in the Land of the Rising Sun. How so? Well, the iPads are said to feature custom-built apps by IBM, all designed with senior citizens in mind -- some can be used to set reminders and alerts about medications, or to request help with things like grocery shopping.

Not surprisingly, Apple's also touting out-of-the-box iPad services such as FaceTime and Messages, which those who benefit from the program could use to stay in touch with loved ones. There are no details on the model of the iPads being provided, but chances are these senior citizens won't care too much about such details.

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Source: Apple

Jeff Bezos' first proper test rocket has successfully launched

Elon Musk may be the most famous tech billionaire with an interest in spaceflight, but he's certainly not the only one. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos also has a company, Blue Origin, which is doing similar research into reusable craft to get us to-and-from the heavens. The normally secretive outfit has just revealed that its first test vehicle, New Shepard, made arguably its most important, partially successful test flight yesterday. In the experiment, the priapic craft took an (empty) crew capsule to a height of 307,000 feet before releasing it to float gently back to earth.

Unfortunately there was a fault in New Shepard 1's hydraulic system, and so the company was "unable to recover" the propulsion module -- a polite euphemism for crashing into the desert. Thankfully, no-one was injured, and the business is already working on building a second and third New Shepard to continue testing the vertical takeoff, vertical landing vehicle. If successful, then it's likely that Bezos will look to offer governments a cheaper way of getting satellites, personnel and cargo into orbit, hopefully bringing us all a bit closer to the space taxi NASA's always been jonesing for.

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Via: Reuters

Source: Blue Origin

NASA's Messenger probe will crash into Mercury at 3:30pm ET today

It's been a long and hard road for NASA's Messenger Probe as it studied the surface of Mercury for the last four years. That journey, however, will come to an end today, after NASA announced that the craft will crash land into the planet at around 3:30pm ET today. The vehicle was the first that managed to make it to Mercury, and has been in service for more than a decade -- far longer than administrators had ever expected it to last. In fact, the project was only meant to last for a year, but canny fuel-saving measures managed to quadruple its lifespan.

Messenger was able to make more than a few exciting discoveries, including the fact that there's ice and organic matter close to the planet's poles. Now that the gas tanks are finally empty, the hardware will "make a new crater," 16 meters wide, in the planet's surface later this afternoon. Unfortunately, there's no way to view the incident, since the crash will take place on the side of the planet facing away from us. Still, unless you're likely to get a telling off from your boss, pour a cold one out to the little space probe that could at 3:30pm.

[Image credit: NASA/JHU APL/Carnegie Institution of Washington]

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Source: NASA

Apple Watch review: a status symbol for iOS devotees

Apple Watch review: a status symbol for iOS devotees

​Mankind's fascination with watches capable of more than simply telling the time is nothing new. But recently, our collective interest in intelligent timepieces has spiked, and we have more and more powerful wrist-worn computers to choose from than ever -- whether made by startups with record-setting Kickstarter campaigns or the biggest names in consumer electronics. Of course, the biggest name of all, Apple, had yet to release one of its own. Well, the Watch has arrived, and its maker has loftier aspirations for it than the smartwatches preceding it. Apple's Watch isn't some utilitarian gadget -- it's jewelry, an object of lust, not only for what it can do, but also for how it looks.

I'm not a watch person. Haven't worn one regularly since high school (I'm 33 years old now), and have never been enamored with the likes of Rolex or Longines. But the Apple Watch is, of course, much more than a mere time teller, and the company expects to sell a lot of these things to people like me -- you don't build a $700 billion company selling niche products, after all. The question is: Why would someone like me want one?

Hardware

For the uninitiated, there are two sizes (38 or 42mm) and three Watch models: Sport, Watch and Edition. The entry-level Sport model starts at $349 and is made of aluminum, while the high-end Edition starts at $10,000 and is crafted of 18-karat rose or yellow gold. Apple loaned me a 42mm stainless steel Watch model ($549) with a bright, lime green Sport Band ($49 when sold separately) and a Link Bracelet ($449).

In keeping with its aspirations to luxury jewelry and with Apple's usual obsessive attention to detail, the Watch case I received is constructed of machined, cold-forged steel polished to a high gloss. Its OLED screen on top and heart rate sensor on the bottom are sheathed in sapphire crystal, a material familiar to any luxe timepiece aficionado. (Note: Sport models make do without the sapphire protection.) The "Digital Crown" on the right edge is machined and polished too, as is the button with an ever-so-slightly chamfered edge alongside it. All of these elements are fitted together perfectly, with uniform gaps and nary a blemish to be found. The result is a watch that looks the part it's been cast to play -- assuming you dig the aesthetics of a rounded rectangle parked on your arm.

It's the finest construction of any smartwatch I've seen, and none of the others are particularly close (second place: ASUS ZenWatch). More importantly (for Apple), it doesn't feel ridiculous to compare its build quality to something made by Tag Heuer or Cartier.

The Sport Band is made of a pliable, soft-touch material called fluoroelastomer and can be had in white, blue, pink and black in addition to the green I received. The Link Bracelet's made of brushed stainless steel (a Space Black Stainless Steel Watch and matching bracelet are also available, though the black bracelet isn't available for purchase separately). There's a plethora of other straps available for the Watch made of metal and leather, as well.

While I'm not wild about the color of the Sport Band I've been using, the green cuts a striking image on my wrist, and has garnered my Watch far more (favorable) attention on the street than when I've worn the metal bracelet. As you might expect, the rubbery Sport Band is the more comfortable of the two, and even though it's a more casual look, I am impressed with its fit and finish; there's not a seam to be found on the thing, which keeps it looking and feeling premium (for a rubber strap).

Meanwhile, the Link Bracelet is a marvelous bit of engineering, with a unique quad-hinged clasp that latches and releases with rifle-bolt precision. It also has links that can be removed with a simple button press, which makes fitting the bracelet a relatively painless process. Pressing the release button while pulling on the appropriate links required more fiddling than I expected, but it also gets easier the more times you do it. The bracelet is comprised of a single band of horizontal scales, which sets it apart visually from the three or four vertical bands of links in most other watch bracelets. The effect reminds me of the scales you find on the belly of a snake, and I dig the simplicity.

When combined with the polished steel Watch case, however, the brushed finish on the bracelet looks incongruous to my eye. Not to the point of distraction, but for a company that so sweats the little things like Apple does, I'm surprised that such a choice was made. At least it matches the bracelet in its precision construction, and the two fit together almost seamlessly.

Getting started

Apple Watch Review

Setting up the Watch is straightforward. Upon powering it up for the first time, it'll prompt you to pick a language, then open up the Watch app -- which is included with iOS 8.3 -- on your iPhone 5 or later. Tap the 'Start Pairing' option on your Watch and a dancing point cloud (think of it as a beautiful QR code) appears. Point your phone's camera at the Watch's screen, and once the point cloud forms itself into a circular rosette, presto! You're paired. Then, you'll need to agree to the terms and conditions, link up your Apple ID, create a Watch-specific passcode and let it sync all of the compatible apps and info with your iPhone. The whole process takes less than 10 minutes.

Apple's Watch display is an OLED unit which, in the 42mm version has a 390 x 312 resolution that performs well in just about any lighting condition. Colors are vibrant; blacks are inky; and it's viewable in direct sunlight, despite washing out (as is the case with every screen I've ever used in such conditions).

The default mode for that screen is off, but it wakes up when you either touch it or twist your wrist so the Watch thinks you're looking at it. Much digital ink has been spilled about the split-second delay between raising your wrist and seeing the time, and it is noticeable, but I found the slight impediment didn't bother me. The bigger issue is when the first arm motion fails to trigger the display, which forces you to either repeat the process or tap the screen to wake it up.

Should you have more than one Watch band to choose from, swapping them is a similarly easy affair. On the underside of the Watch sit two-flush mounted buttons that serve to release each side of the band, and those buttons need only be depressed slightly, if deliberately, to release. Sliding the ends out of the channels milled into the top and bottom edges of the Watch in which they reside isn't hard, although doing so smoothly took a few tries before I got the hang of it. Also, re-inserting the Link Bracelet requires sliding the tip of one side in before seating the other and pushing them both in simultaneously. Once you feel a muted "snick" on both sides, your band of choice is secure.

The mechanism is brilliant in its simplicity and execution, and makes swapping straps a far simpler process than the pin system on your standard watchband or a trip to the jewelers. Given the wide selection of straps Apple is offering out of the gate (and with more to come, no doubt), this feature is of greater importance than you might think. Any wearable device aspiring to be fashionable has to look good, and the ability to tailor colors and styles to taste so easily is key to the Watch's appeal. (And, in what I'm sure is a completely unintended side effect, this portends greater commercial success -- buying multiple bands makes less sense if you have to head to the nearest jeweler to change them.)

But tailoring the physical look is only part of the equation. Apple has built in digital personalization options, too. The company has put together a user guide that comprehensively elucidates all that the Watch can do, so for the purposes of this review, I'll stick to the highlights.

In use

Generally speaking, the modes of interaction on the Watch's user interface are straightforward, if not always intuitive. In keeping with its primary function, your homescreen is, naturally, a watch face, with the app launcher cloud hidden a layer below. Accessing it is a mere press of the Digital Crown away. Press it again and you're taken back to your watch face. I found it helpful to think of depressing that crown as a sort of analogue for the iPhone's home button, as double-clicking it also takes you straight back to the last app you've used. Scrolling through options and zooming in and out with that little knob made perfect sense from the start -- I'm all about reducing fingerprints on shiny gadget surfaces, and the crown helps curb those smudges.

Another unique bit of UI comes in the form of Apple's new Taptic Engine, a linear actuator that delivers haptic feedback. Far from a mere buzz or vibration, the engine delivers more detailed and nuanced tactile feedback, that in effect is not unlike Immersion's HD haptic technology. Differentiating between the sensation of the different sorts of taps and rumbles it provides isn't easy at first, but the more I felt the feedback, the more attuned I became.

Aside from the watch, app tray and individual applications, the Watch comes with a feature called Glances. A swipe up on the watch face drops you into a carousel of widgets for various apps and functions to let you get a quick look at battery life, the weather, or scores from teams you follow. You can add and subtract Glances in the companion iPhone app, though the only one I really found useful was a status screen that shows if the Watch is connected to your phone and lets you toggle airplane, do-not-disturb and silent modes. You can also ping your iPhone if you've misplaced it.

While the UI does take some getting used to, I settled into using the Digital Crown/touchscreen combo after a couple of days, and after a week, using the Watch became second nature.

Timekeeper

The Watch comes with 10 faces preloaded, and each can be adjusted to varying degrees. There's also a creation engine that lets you make and save variations of those faces for quick access. To swap or tweak one, you'll need to utilize Force Touch, Apple's recently introduced tech that enables the Watch's display (and the new MacBook's trackpad) to distinguish a light tap from a hard press. Jamming your finger into the screen isn't necessary, but you do need to apply significant pressure for the Watch to recognize what you're trying to do.

Upon force pressing, the Watch gives you a horizontal carousel of the available faces. Swiping left and right gets you where you want to go, and any faces that can be customized have a button telling you so beneath them. Tap that button, and again, swiping right and left navigates the modes of adjustment. There are two main ways to tailor the faces: first, color. Wind the crown from top to bottom, and the hue of the words, numbers and watch hands change from salmon pink, to purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red and finally, white.

Next, you can adjust a series of widgets on the faces, called complications in watchmaking parlance. Depending upon the face chosen, you've got three to five complications to work with. Tapping on a given widget lets you change it, and turning the crown rolls through the options. These include: date, calendar events, moon phase, sunrise and sunset times, weather, stocks, activity summary, alarm, timer, stopwatch, battery charge and world clock. Fans of simplicity can also turn any and all complications off.

Additionally, the Motion face lets you choose among beautiful animations of different butterflies, flowers or jellyfish, while the Chronograph lets you change the watch face itself to black, navy, brown, forest green, dark gray or parchment color.

Two of the faces I found most appealing, Solar and Astronomy, don't support such modding. They are, however, interactive and dynamic. Astronomy lets you swap among views of the Earth, the moon and the solar system (and spinning the crown lets you zoom forward and backward in time, spinning the celestial bodies and the sun's shadow accordingly). Solar displays the sun's position in the sky via a parabolic arc and horizon line and similarly, rotating the crown slides it along that arc. As it does so, the corona emanating from the sun changes to emulate the lighting of dawn, dusk, high noon and all other times before and after solar midnight.

Communicator

Some notifications are also actionable -- such as archiving Gmail messages -- though most are simply informational. Each is accompanied by a short pop or ding and/or a bit of haptic feedback. Both the sounds and vibrations can be turned on and off individually to suit your tastes or differentiate between types of notifications. Should you miss an alert when it first comes through, the next time you check the Watch, a small red dot appears on screen (or not, if you choose to turn that feature off) letting you know. A swipe down puts you in the notification tray, and if you want to dismiss all of them at once, a simple Force Touch does the trick.

Plenty of others have complained about a lack of granular controls for notifications, but I didn't find it to be a problem. Really, having notifications mirror behavior from the iPhone or simply switching them off was all the control I needed. It's just a matter of figuring out what sorts of pings you want on your wrist: just the important stuff, or a fire hose of info.

You can make and take phone calls, send and receive text messages or use Apple's Watch-specific Digital Touch comms technology to send finger paintings, taps, animated emoji and even a facsimile of your heartbeat to your closest friends. Using the Watch to take calls is a middling-to-poor experience, though being able to mute an incoming call by covering the Watch is a handy feature. In a quiet, private place, it's a "good enough" sort of thing, with mediocre audio at limited volume being pumped out of the Watch's speaker. In public? Forget about it. Aside from the obvious lack of privacy and inconsiderate nature of forcing those around you to endure your conversation, you can't hear what the person on the other end is saying when there's any sort of ambient noise. The novelty of talking and listening to my wrist dissipated after just a few calls.

Messaging is, by far, the most useful of the Watch's communication abilities. Using the app, you can receive, reply to and send texts, and Apple's made replying to messages, in particular, even easier than on an iPhone. See, the Watch provides a list of (mostly) contextually relevant replies you can simply tap to use instead of typing out a response. You can also use Siri to dictate text replies or send audio messages -- the voice dictation mostly works well, but plenty of times, there's an interminable delay (sometimes of 15 seconds or more) between when I'd speak my reply and when Siri would recognize it. Still, I found messaging via the Watch a feature worth having, as it was often more convenient to deal with texts there than on my phone.

Apple's made much ado about its Digital Touch technology, which, in theory, provides a more personal way to communicate. The tech enables you to tap, draw pictures or scribble words on the Watch screen and have it mirrored on your friend's Watch, even if it's a world away. You can also send your heartbeat by pressing and holding two fingers against the screen for a few seconds. In order to digitally touch someone, they also need to be added to your Friends circle in the iPhone app. In practice, I found it difficult to find the appeal of this mode of communication. I'm a poor artist; my handwriting looks like chicken scratch; and nobody would ever accuse me of being a romantic. Plus, I only had a couple of other Watch owners available in my contacts with which to experiment.

Fitness and health tracker

Despite my svelte frame, I'm no workout warrior. In fact, I'm one of the laziest people I know. (I will not apologize for this. Gormans are naturally a tall and skinny people.) Because of this, I greatly appreciate Apple's multi-pronged, relatively frictionless approach to activity tracking. When first firing up the app, it prompts you to input your sex, age, weight, height and general activity level in terms of daily calorie burn. The app uses this information to recommend daily movement and exercise goals that can be adjusted manually as well. The app tracks you three ways using the Watch's accelerometer: Move, Stand and Exercise. The aim is to give a comprehensive look at your daily activity and motivate you to stop being such a slothful meatbag.

Move is a calorie counter. Stand tracks how sedentary you are on an hourly basis (and prompts you to get up for at least one minute out of every hour). Exercise keeps up with how much time you've spent on any activity as or more strenuous than a brisk walk, with the aim of getting 30 minutes of exercise each day. I can't say the Activity app has made me become more active, yet, but it has made me mindful of my activity level (or lack thereof) -- and therefore I aspire to be more active. Baby steps, right?

There's also a separate, more comprehensive Workout app that integrates with the Activity app. The app lets you choose from a set list of types of exercise (walking, biking, elliptical, rowing machine, etc.). It uses that information, plus the accelerometer and heart rate sensor in the Watch, along with the GPS and WiFi in your iPhone to measure distance covered and (if you have an iPhone 6) elevation gained and lost. All those elements working in concert enable the Watch, according to Apple, to compute a more accurate estimate of your calorie burn during workouts.

Navigation, payments, music and more

There are a few other miscellaneous features of the Watch that are of particular value, I found. First among these is Maps. Issues with Apple Maps itself aside, the implementation of it on the Watch is quite useful, especially when used in tandem with the iPhone. While you can search for locations using Siri on the Watch, I found it preferable to map my routes using my phone and then let the Watch handle telling me where to go. It does so with visual cues and haptic feedback. The tap pattern is different for right and left turns, though apparently my tactile perception is pretty weak at this point. I've yet to tell the two apart by feel alone. I imagine they will become easier to differentiate as I grow attuned to the sensations.

Apple Pay is also, of course, a part of the Watch experience. You add credit cards through the iPhone Watch app -- and even if your iPhone already has Pay activated, you'll need to re-add your card for the Watch -- and you must have a four-digit Watch passcode enabled. Using Pay is easy. Once you're set up, press the lone button on the Watch twice and your available credit cards pop up on screen. Choose the one you want; hold your wrist near the reader until you hear the beep; and you're good to go.

The Watch also lets you store up to 2GB or about 250 songs on board, though you'll need a Bluetooth speaker or headphones to actually, you know, listen to those tunes.

Lastly, a word about third-party Watch apps. I've only tried a handful of the over 3,000 available, but the ones I have used are buggy and slow. I'm chalking this up to them being built for a wholly new software platform and developers need some time to optimize them. I therefore don't find it necessary or useful to spend time evaluating them here. I will say that it bodes well for Apple to have such a huge catalog of apps at launch, and I expect to see more and better software in the months to come.

Battery life

I'll admit, coming into this review, I expected that having to charge the Watch nightly would be a chore. I was wrong. Because of the nifty magnetic induction-charging disc and the fact that I'd never sleep wearing a Watch anyway, charging it up each night just isn't a big deal. (Though having to pack one more charging cable in my bag when I travel is certainly an irritation). As for battery life, well, I've made it through every day with at least 15 percent and sometimes over 50 percent of charge left when I hit the sack. Most importantly, I never once found myself worrying about the Watch running out of juice and never had to use the power reserve mode (which turns the Watch into a timepiece only) to make it through the day. Do I wish that the thing could last for days or weeks without a charge? Of course I do, but state of the art for smartwatch battery life is no more than a day -- maybe two -- and the Watch is in line with that despite packing a 205mAh battery just two-thirds the size of most of its competitors.

The competition

Mostly, the Watch's competition comes from a plethora of Android Wear devices. When comparing software, the Watch does most everything that Wear does and more. Sure, Google Now 's contextual suggestions and voice recognition give it an edge over Siri, but the Watch's customizable faces, with their nifty complications, are far more useful. Plus, Dick Tracy fans are sure to love the Apple timepiece's abilities as a phone.

Yes, Samsung's Gear S also makes calls, and matches the Watch Sport's $350 price, but it's huge, ugly and lacks app support due to its devotion to Tizen. The Moto 360 ($180) and LG G Watch R ($249) appeal to the circular-watch crowd, but both are masculine in appearance and are too chunky for those with feminine or dainty wrists. ASUS' ZenWatch is only $200 and comes closest to the Apple Watch in terms of attractive design, but its massive screen bezel takes away from an otherwise handsome stainless steel body.

Really, if you're smartwatch shopping, it boils down to the age-old question about the phone in your pocket: iOS or Android? Because if you want a Watch, you better be comfy as a resident in Apple's walled garden.

Wrap-up

I don't think the Watch is for me. While I appreciate the thoughtfulness, quality and ingenuity of the hardware design, it's just not my style. Also, getting a Watch means locking one's self into an iPhone universe, and while it's an excellent handset, I harbor an affinity for Android phones. Plus, I rely heavily upon Google calendar and Gmail web apps both for work and personal purposes. Because of that, I can't take full advantage of the Watch's capabilities without switching to Apple's calendar and email client. And that's not happening.

However, there are plenty of folks picking up what Apple's putting down, as evidenced by the (estimated) million Watch pre-orders Apple received. It's a well-rounded wearable that handles notifications as well as any other smartwatch, has comprehensive activity tracking skills and the cachet of being the hottest device on the planet (for now). If you're firmly on team iPhone, are willing to pay a premium for an intelligent timepiece and can handle charging it on a nightly basis, the Watch is for you.

The bottom line is: The Watch is the nicest smartwatch available, but it's more status symbol than wearable revolutionary. Most of the Watch's features can be categorized as nice to have (at best) or superfluous (at worst), and because of that, if you're not enamored with the Watch's appearance, it's probably not compelling enough to buy one.

Photos by Will Lipman

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