Month: March 2018

Enlarge / The new name and logo. (credit: Google)

Google just remembered that its smartwatch operating system, Android Wear, exists. While we're not getting new hardware or software, the OS is being rebranded to "Wear OS by Google." There's a new name, a new logo, and a new website to promote the brand.

When Android Wear first launched, it was an Android-based smartwatch OS that only worked when paired with Android phones, so "Android Wear" made perfect sense. Google later added iPhone compatibility, which made the name "Android Wear" seem a bit misleading. It would be easy for an iPhone user to see the name and assume their non-Android phone was not compatible with it. "Wear OS" is much more neutral, with Google calling it "a wearables operating system for everyone" in its blog post. The situation is a lot like Google's other recent name change, when it switched "Android Pay" to "Google Pay." Android Pay worked on more platforms than just Android (like the Web) so it got a platform-generic name.

This rebranding is sadly the best news Android Wear has gotten in about year. Before this announcement, it would have been easy to suspect that Android Wear was dead, as it has major problems all throughout the ecosystem and hasn't seen much support from Google.

Enlarge / Then-President Barack Obama talks with 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed at the White House on October 19, 2015 in Washington, DC. (credit: Getty Images | Chip Somodevilla )

A US District Court judge has dismissed the lawsuit filed by the father of Ahmed Mohamed, a boy who brought a homemade clock to school and then was arrested on charges of bringing a hoax bomb to the school.

Mohamed was a 14-year-old freshman when the incident happened at his high school in Irving, Texas in September 2015. The charge against Mohamed was dropped, and the boy gained public support from President Obama, who invited him to the White House after saying that "we should inspire more kids like you to like science."

Mohamed's father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, filed a lawsuit against the Irving Independent School District, school principal Daniel Cummings, the City of Irving, and police officers Robin Howman, Charles Taylor, Jeff Mitchell, and Richie Miller. The lawsuit alleged that Mohamed, an African-American Muslim, was discriminated against based on his race and religion.

Enlarge / It's a bit surprising Nintendo didn't add controller grooves for this Switch orientation on the system itself. (credit: Jeremy Parish / Twitter)

It has been about a year now since the first Switch games started appearing with a vertical orientation option, letting players turn the undocked system sideways for a more authentic classic-arcade aspect ratio. Today, these "TATE mode" games are still something of a hassle to play, requiring players to detach the Joy-con controllers and use some sort of carrying case or kickstand to prop the system on a flat surface.

Now, video game collectible house Fangamer is apparently working on a solution to this problem: a Switch grip/holster that lets you easily hold two controllers and a vertically oriented system right in your hands.

Retronauts podcast cohost and classic gaming expert Jeremy Parish revealed in a tweet yesterday that he has been working with Fangamer and mechanical engineer Mike Choi on the vertical holster. An attached photo shows two small clips that seem to attach to the top and bottom edges of the system (or the sides, in vertical mode), allowing players to simply clip their Joy-Cons into place.

On March 14, UK Prime Minister Theresa May announced the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats in response to a March 4 "military grade" nerve agent attack that poisoned former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, as well as a police detective who visited his home in Salisbury, England. Dozens of other people may have also been exposed to the nerve agent in a pub and restaurant the Skripals visited before they were found unconscious on a bench.

UK law enforcement and security officials have said that the nerve agent used in the attack was one of a series of chemical weapons developed by the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War known as Novichok, or "newcomer." Today, the leaders of the UK, the US, France, and Germany issued a joint statement condemning Russia for the attack, stating that it "constitutes the first offensive use of a nerve agent in Europe since the Second World War," and demanding full disclosure of the Novichok program by Russia to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg offered "practical support" if May's government requests it, saying the attack "has no place in a civilized world." And further diplomatic action from France and Germany against Russia is expected.