Month: October 2016

Enlarge (credit: Ron Amadeo)

The Galaxy Note 7 is officially dead. Samsung has told multiple outlets (CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg) that it is permanently stopping production of the troubled device.

The Galaxy Note 7 was originally released mid-August, and by September, devices were being pulled off the market due to numerous reports of explosions and injuries. After recalling 2.5 million devices worldwide, Samsung spent a few weeks retooling the devices, and on October 1st, it resumed sales of the Galaxy Note 7. Once sales and exchanged devices were out there, reports of explosions resumed, too—Samsung didn't actually stop the phones from blowing up. Just yesterday, Samsung announced a second recall for the devices, and instead of just a recalling specific units in certain territories, it called on "all carrier and retail partners globally" to accept returns and stop sales.

Killing the Note 7 is definitely going to be expensive. Earlier this morning, Reuters reported that "if Samsung stops selling the Note 7s, that will translate into lost sales of up to 19 million phones, or nearly $17 billion." It would not surprise us to hear the entire "Note" brand is dead after this, too.

JAXA / NHK

Most people are familiar with the Apollo images of the Moon, showing astronauts at work and play on the lunar surface. But those photos often don't entirely do justice to the Moon's stark beauty, and some of the most amazing images of Earth's companion come not from the surface, but above. Perhaps no spacecraft has better captured this than one launched by Japan nearly a decade ago.

Beginning in October, 2007, Japan's Kayuga spacecraft spent the better part of two years in a polar orbit around the Moon, including passes from as close as 100km. As part of its payload, the spacecraft carried two 2.2 megapixel CCD HDTV color cameras, one a telephoto and one a wide-angle. These cameras returned the first high-definition video of the Moon back to Earth.

Enlarge (credit: Getty | Spencer Platt)

Two years ago, the attorneys general from Oregon and Washington filed nearly identical lawsuits in their states alleging that 5-hour Energy ads deceived consumers by suggesting the shots are superior to coffee and recommended by doctors. In the last few days, the verdicts came in—and they’re completely opposite.

In Washington, King County Superior Court Judge Beth Andrus ruled Friday(PDF) that the scientific data didn’t back up the claim that 5-hour Energy’s combination of vitamins and caffeine worked “in a synergistic way” to make it superior to coffee.

“None of the studies … support the claim that combining specific B vitamins, taurine, choline, glucuronolactone and tyrosine with caffeine will cause the energy, alertness and focus effects of caffeine to last longer than if the caffeine were consumed alone,” Andrus wrote.

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Following on from the well written but mechanically limited Mafia 2, developer Hangar 13 has used this opportunity—in which is incidentally its debut game—to shift the series' perspective entirely, with mixed results. So rather than fixating on the made men of the '40s and '50s, Mafia 3 moves to the late '60s, and the heavily stylised city of New Bordeaux. The '60s were a vibrant, culturally rich time and Mafia 3 captures the southern American soul of a Louisiana-inspired city fantastically well. From its big American cars—with their wide girth, chrome bumpers, and enormous steering wheels—to Hendrix riffs and the high-pitched tones of the Rolling Stones, Mafia 3 is an accomplished exercise in period world-building.

The city is rich and varied, with lovely details and intricate little flourishes bringing the entire place to life, despite a handful of technical failings (more on that later). The newfound focus on the African-American mob takes a mature and considered approach to the oppressive attitudes of the times, too. It's unflinching and often unpleasant, but the depiction of racism is sensitively handled, without ever feeling gratuitous.

You play as Lincoln Clay—a young, biracial orphan fitting an interesting Henry Hill archetype that embodies loyalty and decency, despite a penchant for everything criminal. Having recently returned to New Bordeaux after a stint in Vietnam as a special forces soldier, Lincoln hits the streets to help out his surrogate father, Sammy, who's also the leader of the local black crime organisation.

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You've got to hand it to Alienware. Despite bearing the brunt of l33t gamer criticism since the Dell buyout in 2006—after all, Alienware machines have tended to resemble something from 12-year-old's high school sketch book—the company has ploughed on, creating increasingly sleek laptops and desktops.

Its latest, the squat, mid-size tower dubbed Aurora, is the most desirable Alienware machine yet. Taking cues from the company's gargantuan Area 51, the Aurora sports a surprisingly compact form factor, restrained (for Alienware at least) aesthetics, and a price that's not far off a self-build. It even has decent cooling performance.

For the first time in a long time, if a tech-shy relative or PC gaming newbie asks whether or not an Alienware desktop is worth it, you can finally say yes.

(credit: Qualcomm/Mercedes-Benz)

Back in 2015 we took a look at Qualcomm's Halo wireless car charging technology. It uses induction charging to top up a hybrid car's batteries without the hassle of actually having to plug in, at roughly the same efficiency as a wired connection. Since then we've been wondering when we might see a Halo-equipped car reach market. Wonder no more: on Tuesday, Mercedes-Benz and Qualcomm announced that the 2017 S550e (the hybrid version of the flagship S-Class sedan) now has the option of wireless charging.

Instead of a cable for plugging one's S550e into the wall, owners will get a charging pad for their carport or garage. Simply drive the car over the pad, and once the two halves of the charger are aligned, charging begins. It's a 3.6kW system (Qualcomm has previously told Ars it could also work at 6.6kW), which makes it suitable for topping up the 8kWh battery in the big Benz, but as yet probably too slow for a fully electric vehicle.

As yet there's no price on Mercedes-Benz's website for the wireless charging option, but given the S550e's base price of $96,600, we're pretty sure it'll be affordable to owners.