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First Click: Wilderness Week, the best smart lighting, The Get Down, and more in the week ahead

August 22nd, 2016

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This week is Wilderness Week at The Verge as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Parks System on Thursday, August 25th.

We’ll also have our This Is My Next pick for best smart lighting this week. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out all our picks from the last few months including the best universal remote, best wireless headphones for fitness, best turntable, best Chromebook, and best portable Bluetooth speaker.

Android 7.0 Nougat is rumored for release sometime today. As noted by Android Central, Canadian carrier Telus lists an "Android N Update" for both Nexus 6P and 5X devices on August 22nd, the same start date as LG’s limited Nougat preview program in Korea. Coincidence? We’ll find out soon enough.

We’ll also be checking in on Netflix’s The Get Down musical drama created by Baz Luhrmann and Stephen Adly Guirgis; AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead post-apocalyptic TV series; and Halt and Catch Fire’s third season which made an early premiere last night.

Alone With You launches Tuesday on the PS4 and PS Vita. Expect to see Andrew Webster’s review this week of the narrative-focused adventure game from the creator of the horror hit Home. Andrew’s also planning to give us a look at the making of ReCore set for a September 13th launch on the Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs.

Verge transportation reporter Jordan Golson will be writing about his recent experience from the Goodwood Festival of Speed. An event Jordan calls "the best car show in the world," mainly because they let him race up the historic hill twice, once in an Aston Martin DB11 and again in a Camaro. Sounds about right.

All this and more is yet to come, but first let’s get caught up on some of our favorite stories from the weekend that was.

  1. Sony to reveal two new PlayStation 4 consoles next month, says WSJ

    Sony will show off a new slimmer version of its current PlayStation 4 console next month, the Wall Street Journal reports, a smaller and less expensive machine that would go on sale alongside the...

  2. Leaked PlayStation 4 slim images emerge online

    Not long after Microsoft’s Xbox One S hit stores, Sony will be releasing its own slimmed down version of its gaming console. Pictures of the updated PlayStation 4 console have appeared in an online...

  3. Watch Japan's Prime Minister morph into Mario for the Olympics' closing ceremony

    Countries lean heavily on national stereotypes during their Olympic ceremonies. For Brazil, it was samba and soccer; for the UK, the Spice Girls and double-decker buses. For Japan, the next host of...

  4. Barbra Streisand fixes Siri with a call to Tim Cook

    Tech support is apparently a lot easier if you're rich and famous. For Barbra Streisand, it's as simple as picking up the phone and calling the CEO of Apple to get a quick fix. The legendary singer...

  5. You should really be watching the weird and wonderful Final Fantasy XV anime

    In a lot of ways, Final Fantasy XV resembles a typical fantasy epic. You have a band of warriors, led by a brooding prince, traveling the world on a lengthy quest. There’s a serious king doing...

  6. We finally know what Ötzi the iceman was wearing when he died 5,300 years ago

    Ötzi the iceman is a scientific celebrity, and we finally know what he was wearing when he died 5,300 years ago. Using complex DNA techniques, researchers identified the material in everything from...

  7. Cadillac's fantastic Escala concept is more New York than Detroit

    Cadillac unveiled the Escala concept, a vision for its new flagship sedan, at a private estate during Monterey Car Week. In it, Cadillac has shed its hard lines and opted for a more fluid form...

  8. No wonder Microsoft’s Xbox One S console is so beautiful, look who designed it

    We really dug the Xbox One S, calling it "svelte and good-looking". The latest update to Microsoft’s flagship gaming console is a very pretty box, and now we know why: Andrew Kim was part of the...

  9. How to be human: how to learn from unrequited love

    Leah Reich was one of the first internet advice columnists. Her column "Ask Leah" ran on IGN, where she gave advice to gamers for two and a half years. During the day, Leah is a Senior User...

  10. 7 new trailers you should watch this week

    Last weekend I watched two absolutely heartbreaking movies about sisters whose lives become confined and controlled by the horrid actions of men. The first, Mustang, came out last year and is about...

Stabilized Bigfoot of the day