Month: July 2017

Enlarge (credit: US Senator Jack Reed)

Renewable power sources' intermittency could eventually cause problems as our electric grids become increasingly reliant on them. While it's always sunny somewhere, and always windy somewhere (often somewhere else), relying on weather variations for generating consistent power means integrating power sources across a large geographic region. Many countries, including several leaders in renewable power, don't have that luxury.

A Swiss-UK research team has now looked at what this means for Europe, where renewable energy has boomed primarily among countries with access to the wind resources of the North Sea. They've found that certain weather patterns leave the North Sea region underproducing for over a week. But those same patterns would boost production relatively nearby—in the Balkans, Spain, and Scandinavia. While that would be enough to offset the North Sea's power slump, it won't do much to help until Europe integrates its grids.

Regime change

The authors focus on what they call "weather regimes," periods of similar weather that tend to stick around for five days or more. Most weather services recognize a handful of distinct European regimes, like having a low-pressure system parked south of Iceland, or high pressure just to the west of Ireland. The authors consider seven of these, nearly twice as many as most weather services recognize, because the relatively subtle differences among them can make a big difference to wind power generation.

Enlarge / Marie with a sniper rifle? Things get weird in Splatoon 2. (credit: Nintendo)

When Splatoon launched on Nintendo's Wii U in 2015, it should have shipped with a "wet paint" sign. This was Nintendo's first major online shooter in nearly a decade, and despite the obvious innovation and fun on offer, it wasn't ready for online prime time. Weapon balancing, content, modes, and matchmaking with friends were all in short supply.

Splatoon 2, out this week on the Switch, could very well have ended up being the "gussied-up port" I expected when the game was announced earlier this year. It sure looks and sounds the same as the Wii U version, and with two years of patches under its belt, that wouldn't have been a bad thing.

But in the odd tradition of other beloved online shooters, Nintendo has opted to not only slap a "2" onto the title but also revisit enough of the series' nuts and bolts to merit the numerical bump. Splatoon 2 is a bona fide sequel, if barely, but that jump in number matters when I offer it as an unqualified recommendation for the next purchase most Switch owners should make. The game has its glaring issues, but Splatoon 2 absolutely executes on the promise and innovation of the original game.

Enlarge / Yep, that's a phone. (credit: VentureBeat)

Evan Blass over at VentureBeat has shared an image of HMD's upcoming Nokia flagship, the Nokia 8. The device will be the first Nokia-branded Android flagship, taking a place at the head of the existing lineup of the Nokia 3, Nokia 5, and Nokia 6. The report says the phone should be announced on July 31st.

In the fast-moving smartphone world, HMD is definitely behind when it comes to design. The device looks a lot like the other budget-conscious Nokia HMD phones—and a lot like a phone design from last year. There are tall top and bottom bezels, capacitive hardware navigation buttons, and a front fingerprint reader. That's disappointing given the more modern slim-bezel designs we've seen from Samsung, LG, Xiaomi, and (if it ever launches) Essential. I think the Nokia 8 will need a competitive price to pair with the old-school design, something that puts it in "budget flagship" territory with the similarly specced, similarly designed OnePlus 5.

The phone is expected to come with a Snapdragon 835, 4 or 6GB of RAM, Android 7.1.1, and a surprisingly small 5.3-inch QHD display. The back seems to feature HMD's usual anodized aluminum body (increasingly a rarity in a world of fragile glass and ceramic phones) and a dual camera setup complete with "Zeiss" branding, just like the old days. Besides the two cameras and LED flash, there's some other component in the camera module, probably a laser autofocus setup.