The Verge - Previews

Nvidia Shield gaming handheld priced at $349, pre-orders begin on May 20th (preview)

2013-05-14T13:00:07Z

The biggest surprise at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show is about to go on sale. The Nvidia Shield, a five-inch portable Android game console that can also stream PC games from a nearby gaming computer, will cost $349 at Newegg, GameStop, Micro Center, Canada Computers, and Nvidia.com when pre-orders begin May 20th. Devices ship by the end of June. Technically, you can actually pre-order one today if you sign up on Nvidia's "notify me" webpage — and there's nothing to keep you from doing that right now. Before you plunk down money on the latest gadget, though, why not read what the fuss is all about?

Simply put, the Shield is Nvidia's attempt to build a premier Android gaming experience like nothing we've seen before. Where most Android devices rely on a touchscreen and maybe an accelerometer and gyroscope for controls, the Shield also has a full console-like gamepad with two analog sticks. Where most are large, wide, flat slabs, the Shield is a clamshell whose five-inch screen lifts up out of the comfortable grips of that large, hefty gamepad. And where many Android devices cut corners on components and install bloated software loads, the Shield runs stock Android 4.2.1 on a brand-new Tegra 4 processor with 2GB of RAM, an incredibly sharp 720p display, tuned bass reflex drivers for audio, a GPS chip, and a mini-HDMI output that outputs 4K video.

We took a trip to Nvidia's headquarters in Santa Clara, California to get a peek at a near-final production prototype of the Shield this week, and it's come incredibly far in just a few months. What once looked like an Xbox 360 controller mated to an incredibly sharp LCD screen now feels even more like one, with freshly tuned triggers, more space between the analog sticks, more room near them for thumbs, and a raised directional pad that feels far friendlier to the touch.

The grips are coated with soft-touch rubber now, and there's a LED under the Nvidia logo button that shines emerald in the dark, not to mention a new charging indicator that glows amber when charging and green when it's ready to unplug. The interchangeable magnetic faceplate on top of the device satisfyingly snaps into place whenever it gets even close to its proper home. The screen's hinge still doesn't feel perfect, a little flimsier when closing and stiffer opening than we'd like, but the screen stays put — and even opens to 180 degrees if that's the angle you want. Nvidia will offer additional faceplates for $20 each, and a nice hard-shell case for the Shield for $40 with a flap that pops open for charging.

We played bits and pieces of Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II and Expendable: Rearmed on the Shield — full Android games that will come bundled with every device — as well as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Max Payne, and finally some Borderlands 2 and Batman: Arkham City streaming from a beefy gaming PC on the same Wi-Fi network. Across the spectrum of current Android and former console titles, the Shield performed quite well. Though there was a little noticeable stutter in Sonic, the other mobile games were butter-smooth on the Tegra 4 processor and extremely crisp on the 5-inch 720p screen. Audio was also impressive: though we could definitely hear distortion in some extremely bass-heavy songs, the Shield's speakers sounded better than many a laptop we've used.

If you're dreaming of all the PC games you'll be playing on the Shield, though, you might be disappointed to hear that there are still some kinks to be worked out, and Nvidia will be labeling the feature "beta" to manage expectations for at least a couple of months. Borderlands 2 in particular worked great in our brief test, but neither game's animations felt quite as fluid as on PC, and several times Nvidia had difficulty getting the Shield and PC to stay connected. The setup also requires an approved Wi-Fi router (dual-band MIMO) to function well, and doesn't yet work with all games: only a limited selection of Steam Big Picture mode and GeForce Experience titles are good to go as of today, though engineers told us that the buttons and sticks should theoretically just work with any PC game that supports an Xbox controller.

Spec sheet changes and omissions

PC streaming isn't the only feature that's in question, just so you know. Between CES and today, the Shield's on-board storage shrunk from 32GB to 16GB, and the 33 watt-hour battery made way for a slightly smaller 28.8Wh unit, even though the Shield still feels rather hefty for its size at over 1.2 pounds. (Nvidia's still promising four to five hours of Tegra 4 gaming even in a worst-case scenario with the screen brightness turned all the way up, as well as 10 to 12 hours of PC streaming and 20-plus hours of video playback, but we'll want to test those for ourselves.) There's no camera, not even a front-facing one for video chats ("It fell off the list for the first design," says Nvidia) and the touchscreen's position, behind the controller grips, can make it hard to use. Though 4K video is a feature, there's no simple source of 4K video content right now, and the Shield doesn't actually play games at 4K resolution. There's also no cellular modem as of yet.

And then there's the slight worry that not all Android apps will work properly on the Shield, since it presently only displays Android in landscape mode. Surprisingly, Nvidia tells us it's specifically working on that very issue with developers, including Netflix, whose Android app currently only lets you sign into an account in portrait mode. Landscape orientation onlyThe company actually showed us a new build of Netflix specifically designed for the Shield, and pointed out that Hulu Plus and Twitch.tv will come with every handheld. "Google wants to help us as well," Nvidia VP of Marketing Ujesi Desai told The Verge. Though the Nexus 7 tablet also didn't fully support landscape mode at launch, Desai said that Google has reconsidered. "I think that was an acute learning for them and they realize it," he said, "In the conversations we've had with them, I think they understand the importance; that portrait and landscape should both be treated as first-class citizens." Android games do support and often even default to landscape orientation — and if they support Android's game controller standard, the Shield should natively work — but for non-gaming apps Google's clout might be important.

While it's clear that a lot of thought and some quality components have gone into the Shield, it's too early for us to say whether it's worth your $349. That's a chunk of money for a handheld gaming machine, perhaps even as much as it'll cost you to buy a new gaming console this holiday. Still, there's no other device quite like it on the market, and today's tablet and smartphone competition can cost a bundle of money as well.

It could signal the beginning of a real Android gaming ecosystem... or not. Either way, we can't wait to find out what the Shield is capable of.

Nokia's aluminum Lumia 925 is the best Windows Phone yet, but that's not enough (hands-on)

2013-05-14T09:55:07Z

Nokia just unveiled its Lumia 925 at an event in London, and I've managed to take an early look at the handset ahead of its release in June. Nokia has swapped out a unibody polycarbonate look and feel for metal. Aluminum to be precise. The result is a stunning, slimline Lumia that weighs just 139 grams. It's really noticeable when you pick up the Lumia 925 for the first time. With a polycarbonate rear, and aluminum frame wrapping around the side of the device, it feels almost as plastic and lightweight as a Samsung Galaxy. But the aluminum makes it a lot more sturdy and brings it to similar design and hardware levels as Apple's iPhone 5.

The rear features an 8.7-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization and the PureView moniker, all packaged into a neat little hump. The sensor is identical to the Lumia 920 model, and most of the changes on the Lumia 925 are focused on the design and weight. Nokia has placed the micro-SIM slot at the top, alongside the Micro USB port, which leaves the bottom of the device clean with no ports. The rear also includes a dual-LED flash and points for the wireless charging sleeves to attach. The extra padding for wireless charging takes away from the design of the device, and the colors tend to look a little odd when attached to a grey or black metal case.

Nokia's Lumia 925 screen is a 4.5-inch OLED one, and it's encouraging to see the company move away from LCD. Equipped with Gorilla glass that curves ever so slightly, the effect is beautiful and the colors and blacks are reproduced well. Viewing angles are equally good, with Windows Phone's interface really taking advantage of the display running at 1280 x 768.

Windows Phone still holds back Nokia's hardware

When I first saw the Lumia 720 earlier this year, I declared it the best Lumia body yet at the time. Nokia's Lumia 925 design and body builds on the 720 and takes it a step further. With a great camera included, and Nokia's range of exclusive apps, the Lumia 925 is the best Windows Phone yet. The specs haven't moved on from the Lumia 920, but Nokia is improving the areas — loud speaker, camera, and design — that count. The only problem here is Windows Phone. It's a solid operating system, but it needs improving and a higher quality of apps. Nokia is once again fleshing out its Windows Phone range, but it's up to Microsoft to push the software forwards.

Vlad Savov contributed to this report

Major Windows 8 built-in app updates due Tuesday, Google Calendar sync will be disabled

2013-03-25T16:00:01Z

Microsoft is preparing some major updates to its built-in Windows 8 applications on Tuesday. The company is refreshing its communication apps: mail, calendar, and people. In our review of Windows 8 we found that the new built-in apps were significantly lacking functionality, and the performance of them on the Surface RT tablet was poor. Microsoft is attempting to address both of these issues this week.

Mail

The focus is really on mail with this round of updates. Speaking with The Verge, Windows user experience program manager Kip Knox explained that Microsoft recognises the importance of mail, calendaring, and contacts. "Since we shipped Windows 8 we've been working hard on this update," he reveals. The update includes some features and functionality that really should have been part of the original release, but at least Microsoft is starting to correct that. Folder creation, deletion, and renaming is now supported, alongside a filter that brings up unread messages.

Mail should sync a lot faster and more reliably says Knox, with a new feature to let users to mark mail as spam. With Gmail this will move the message to the spam folder, but with Outlook.com it will do the same and also alert Microsoft's spam filter about the mail to ensure a similar one isn't placed in the inbox in future. Flagging is now supported too, with a filter to view all flagged messages. One of the bigger improvements is search. You can now search all mail on the server, which brings up results regardless of the amount of email you have synced with your device.

Mail finally gets decent draft support and speed improvements

Microsoft has also improved the compose messages part of mail. Surface RT users will be able to create messages a lot quicker, and the mail client will now automatically provide contact suggestions based on the number of times you email certain people. Draft messages has also been greatly improved. When you back out of an email message, mail will automatically save a draft and show it inline with the rest of your messages. There's no way to turn this behaviour off, but you can go through the drafts folder to delete individual drafts. You'll also be able to paste in formatted charts a lot more reliably, and edit bulleted or numbered lists more easily. Adding, editing, and deleting hyperlinks is now supported too.

Other minor improvements include the ability to delete all messages in a folder or mark them as read, an option to save senders as new contacts, and support to send email from an Outlook.com alias. Microsoft is also building in information rights management email support for business users, allowing them to securely send email attachments and read encrypted ones.

Calendar

On the calendar side, Microsoft has made some tweaks to the UI to improve readability. Font sizes and colors have been improved, and a new work week view lets you focus on Monday to Friday to find appointments. Calendar now includes the current time in day and week view that's displayed inline against your appointments. You can also forward meeting invitations and check the availability of attendees. Recurrence options for meetings have also been improved, with the ability to set end dates for recurring events.

Microsoft is removing Google Calendar support

One major change in calendar is the removal of Google sync support. "As of this update we will switch all Gmail accounts over to IMAP, we have to," says Knox. Microsoft currently supports Exchange ActiveSync for Google accounts in mail, calendar, and people, but Google has dropped this support for new devices. The app update will remove calendar support for Google, but Windows 8 users will still be able to add Gmail contacts to the people hub. Knox refused to comment on any plans for CalDAV support, which Windows Phone will soon support, so it looks like Windows 8 users will be left out in the cold if they want Google Calendar support natively in Windows 8. It's a disappointing result for users, regardless if you blame Google for the support removal or Microsoft for not implementing CalDAV and CardDAV support sooner.

People

The people app isn't getting any significant improvements with this round of updates, but Microsoft is taking the opportunity to tweak some parts. A new filter will let you control the content of the "what's new feed" by picking social networks, and navigation has been improved with clearer options when the app bar is enabled. A new change on the Facebook integration side lets you post directly to a friend's wall, handy if you use the app for Facebook at all. Finally, Microsoft is also building in support for its Active Directory Global Address List (GAL) for business users.

Solid improvements, but still more required

Overall the changes are major for mail users, with a host of improvements and performance enhancements that make the app a lot more usable. Although Messenger is part of the core communications apps, Microsoft isn't updating this app at all. It's unclear how the company plans to manage its Skype and Messenger merger, but given the Messenger app seems redundant now we'd expect it to disappear in time. Skype now supports Messenger conversations and having two apps support identical scenarios seems confusing and unnecessary.

However, Microsoft refuses to comment on its plans for the Windows 8 Messenger app. The built-in Windows 8 apps will all be available in the Windows Store by Tuesday, but If Google Calendar support is essential to you then you might want to hold off updating. The unclear CalDAV support situation leaves users in limbo, so Microsoft needs to reveal its plans before people are left with questions. Despite this, the mail improvements are significant enough make an update worthwhile, and we're hopeful that Microsoft will continue to improve the rest of its apps very soon.

Update: the applications are now available from the Windows Store.

Windows Blue: a video preview of what's next for Windows 8

2013-03-25T14:00:41Z

Windows Blue made an early appearance on the internet over the weekend and we've had a chance to experience some of its new features. The upgrade to Windows 8 looks like it's going to bring a host of improvements, fixes, and some new built-in apps too, but the biggest changes are on the UI side. Microsoft now supports smaller Live Tiles and the company is changing the way you arrange them on the Start Screen. Moving ever closer to Windows Phone, you can pick between large, medium, and small Live Tiles for applications. The only exception is the desktop tile that includes an extra large option.

UI tweaks and additional Snap Views

Color options have also been updated slightly, with the ability to pick from a number of shades in the sidebar of the Start Screen. Aside from this, the UI is largely the same as Windows 8. New Snap Views allow you to snap apps side-by-side using 50 percent each, but on high resolutions you can also snap up to four applications alongside each other. The biggest changes are really in the settings part of the Start Screen. Users can now access new networking and apps sections that provide access to additional options not available in Windows 8. Networking lets you switch connections on and off, and there's a quick way to add VPN settings too. In the new Apps section you can view how much storage apps are taking up and also take control of when notifications are shown thanks to a new quiet mode.

SkyDrive plays a bigger role in Windows Blue

SkyDrive looks like it's going to play a bigger role in Windows Blue. A new settings panel shows options for backing up devices to SkyDrive and automatically uploading photos or videos that are taken with the camera. The settings menus are largely works in progress, so it's unclear exactly how deep the SkyDrive integration goes, but it's clear that Microsoft's strategy is to ensure it hooks users into the cloud. We'll likely see some further improvements here as the new operating system takes shape.

Microsoft is also tweaking its Charms slightly. On the Share Charm you can now take a screenshot and share it easily, or if you're in Internet Explorer you can simply share a link with other applications. The Devices Charm includes a new Play option, that looks similar to the PlayTo functionality found in Windows 7 and Windows 8. The Search Charm hasn't been overhauled just yet, but we're expecting further improvements to allow Windows Blue users to surface information from directly within the Search Charm.

New built-in apps include a Windows Movie Maker replacement

Additional built-in apps are also available, including an Alarms app that lets you set recurring alarms, and a sound recorder to quickly record audio with a microphone. Microsoft is also building a Windows 8-style calculator that includes scientific modes and an option to convert weight, temperature, volume, and more. The final and fourth application is Movie Moments which appears to be a Windows Movie Maker replacement. The app lets you add captions to movies, with options to export to the pictures folder. All the new built-in apps are fairly basic right now, but we expect they'll be fully functioning by the time Blue ships.

Overall Windows Blue is in its early stages, but it feels like there are some much needed changes here. It's clear that Microsoft doesn't want users to jump into desktop mode to have to change settings and the company is clearing improving this heavily. Windows Blue is expected to enter public preview over the coming months, with a final release due later this year.