Month: April 2017

Enlarge / Gene Kranz, in Mission Control. (credit: NASA)

Former NASA flight director Gene Kranz is best known for his prominent role in bringing the crew of Apollo 13 safely back to Earth—and the now famous saying, "Failure is not an option." But as NASA and the United States prepare to embark upon human missions back into deep space, Kranz warned this week that the country can't be too timid as it does so. It must embrace some risk if it wishes to go back to the Moon and beyond.

During a panel discussion with other Apollo flight directors in Houston, Kranz was asked how NASA accomplished so much, so quickly, in the 1960s and early 1970s, but hasn't been back to deep space since then. By some accounts, in the decades following the Moon landings, NASA has succumbed to a "mind-numbing" bureaucracy and a "paralyzing" cultural requirement for perfection, especially after two space shuttle accidents. Kranz said NASA benefited from a different culture in the 1960s.

"It was an environment in which we were more capable of accepting risk as a nation," Kranz replied. "Space involves risk, and I think that's the one thing about Elon Musk and all the various space entrepreneurs: they're willing to risk their future in order to accomplish the objective that they have decided on. I think we as a nation have to learn that, as an important part of this, to step forward and accept risk."

Enlarge

You'd be forgiven for thinking that PlayStation VR, now a healthy six months old, had been all but forgotten by platform stalwart Sony. Sure, it had the healthiest set of launch games of any VR headset, but they suffered from a lack of longevity. The hope was that Sony, with its plethora of first-party studios, would create the first killer app for VR, the game that would sell a million headsets. Instead, bar the surprisingly good Resident Evil 7, early adopters have been left wanting.

Creating a VR game, let alone a VR game with the production values of an Uncharted or a Horizon: Zero Dawn, doesn't happen overnight of course. But there are signs that a second wave of games will soon launch on Sony's headset, which, if we're lucky, will be far deeper than the first. Indeed, at Sony's recent PSVR Showcase event in London—or, as I prefer, the "we totally haven't forgotten about PSVR please look at all the fun things we have" event—Sony had a handful of upcoming titles to demo.

None of them were new, having made appearances at various trade shows over the the past few months, including PAX. But they provide an interesting insight into how developers are tackling the many idiosyncrasies of the medium on the most mainstream of VR platforms, including the holy trinity of control inputs, nausea, and storytelling. And while I've no doubt we're still some ways off seeing the elusive killer app, I came away impressed: some seriously good games are about to hit PSVR.

Enlarge (credit: HP)

HP focused on updating its Spectre and Envy lines since the beginning of the year, but now the Pavilion line of affordable laptops is getting some attention. Today, HP announced updates to the Pavilion x360 convertible line and the Pavilion Notebook laptop line, making nearly every model thinner and lighter and adding new hardware components like stylus support and IR cameras that are now seen as standard for most practical laptops.

Less color, more shine

The basic construction of the Pavilion x360 line hasn't changed, but HP added some flair with new keyboard deck options. You can get the new models with a silver-metal keyboard finish or what HP's calling a "strata" design, a brushed-black pattern that mimics the curving lines of the inside of a tree trunk. The x360 models now also have chrome-plated hinges, and this feature—combined with the new keyboard deck finishes and the silver and gold color options—should make the device look similar to a Spectre despite its low price. Last year's update to the Pavilion x360s brought bold colors like "sport purple," but it seems HP is making its affordable range feel as luxurious and as sleek as possible to appeal to younger customers.