The PSVR’s virtual reality is almost too immersive for fright-flick-inspired games like RE7.
I’m a long-time fan of the Resident Evil video game series, and I’m a big believer in virtual reality. Combining the two sounds like a winning formula, right?
But, even I had some trepidation about the new Resident Evil 7 , which allows you to play the entire game in virtual reality on a Sony PlayStation 4 console, via the PSVR headset. Virtual reality, whether the Oculus Rift , HTC Vive , PSVR or others, is great for puzzle games, simple sports and occasional shoot-em-ups, but scary games can be a little too immersive, especially if they’re filled with cheap jump scares or in-your-face monsters.
This is not a position I take lightly — I’ve always loved games like Resident Evil and Dead Space , and a reasonable amount of my Blu-ray collection is dedicated to directors like Dario Argento and George Romero. But after playing dozens of VR games this past year (while I’ve been testing VR-ready PCs in the CNET labs), I can safely say horror VR games are not for me. I don’t even like when fish swim too close to my face in VR demos (and that giant whale should back off a bit, too).
But in the interests of science, I loaded up Resident Evil 7, and without even giving the regular 2D version of the game a perfunctory spin, jumped right into VR mode. Despite the fact that I’m especially sensitive to artificial locomotion in VR, the first-person view of the game, with its gamepad controls, was pretty easy to take for about 30 minutes of uninterrupted play. The very slow pace of the initial game probably helps with that, as does the slow walking speed of your character and the horizontal turning that’s restricted to 30-degree jumps by default (you can change that, but smoother rotation can lead to motion sickness in VR).
The slightly hazy look of the game, a byproduct of the lower specs of both the PSVR headset and the PS4 console when compared to $2,500-and-up investment required for a decent PC-based VR setup, gives it an otherworldly feel, and helps divorce the gruesome action from reality. It’s a bit like viewing a late-night cable TV B movie on an old tube TV.
But even then, the oppressive atmosphere quickly gets to you. Inspired by a the visual style of «found footage» movies and Americana horror auteurs like Tobe Hooper and Rob Zombie, it’s very different from the quirky Resident Evil games of old, with their colorful, over-the-top characters and lost-in-translation dialogue.
I finally give up on the VR after a few too many in-your-face jump scares. They probably would have seemed mild in a 2D game on a flat-screen TV sitting 10 feet away, but had a much more visceral impact in the PSVR headset. Continuing the game in its 2D mode, I was struck by how much sharper it looked at its full 1080p resolution on a 50-inch TV. That extra clarity and resolution made it feel much more like just another game — less interesting, but also more playable for lightweights like me.

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The partnership should benefit Sprint customers and Tidal’s subscriber numbers.
Celeb-owned music-streaming service Tidal is getting a boost from a major US carrier.
Sprint announced Monday that it is buying 33 percent of the service, which is famous for being backed by rapper Jay Z.
Buying a third of Tidal will allow Sprint to offer the service, as well as artist content not available elsewhere, to all 45 million of its customers across the US. Meanwhile, the service will continue to be run by the artists who own it, although Sprint’s chief executive, Marcelo Claure, will join Tidal’s board.
Tidal has long trailed music-streaming rivals like Spotify and Apple Music when it comes to subscribers , while Sprint is fourth out of the four top US carriers. Still, Sprint pushing its customers toward Tidal could help increase its user numbers. Tidal already boasts high-fidelity streaming, and it has been host to exclusives such as Beyonce’s «Lemonade» and Kanye West’s «The Life of Pablo. »
«Sprint shares our view of revolutionizing the creative industry to allow artists to connect directly with their fans and reach their fullest, shared potential,» said Jay Z in a statement.
The growth in subscription music services generally, with their $10-a-month memberships, has helped the music industry in the US make money once again .
Wireless carriers, meanwhile, are in constant search for an edge in ways to attract and retain customers. Sprint in recent months, for instance, has made its stores into Pokemon Go hubs and offered free devices to 1 million students, along with touting improvements in the quality of its network.
Sprint did not immediately respond to request for further comment.

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Android apps are coming to more Chromebooks.
Google announced in May that it would bring more than a million Android apps to Chromebooks , but only to certain machines. The company has now confirmed that all Chromebooks launched this year and onward will support Android apps, according to a new line on its Chrome OS support page.
Chromebooks are low-cost computers that run Google’s Web-centric software. While useful for anyone who uses Google applications, such as the Chrome Web browser or Google Docs, Chromebooks have long been criticized for their lack of app support compared with computers running Windows or Mac OS.
The Acer Chromebook R11 , Asus Chromebook Flip and Google’s Chromebook Pixel (2015) are the only Chromebooks that currently support Android apps, but Google has said that roughly half of all devices released in the past two years will be compatible in the future. You can view the full list of Chromebooks that will support Android apps here.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

© Source: https://www.cnet.com/news/google-confirms-all-chromebooks-launched-from-now-on-will-support-android-apps/
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Samsung says two separate battery defects caused both the original batch of Galaxy Note 7 phones and the replacement units to overheat.
Samsung finally answered the burning questions on Sunday.
After its investigation into the Galaxy Note 7’s overheated batteries, the South Korean company concluded there were two causes for the phone’s fatal flaws. Before its initial recall, Samsung said, its batteries had an external casing that was too small, causing it to short-circuit and burn up. In Samsung’s second go, the phones went through a rushed welding process that lead to faulty batteries.
We discuss what Samsung’s revelations mean for the Galaxy S8, and how the company could have avoided this crisis in the first place.
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Samsung’s comeback phone is not ready yet, following last year’s debacle with the Galaxy Note 7, shown here.
Hankering after a Galaxy S8? Well you’re going to have to wait.
The announcement was made by Samsung’s mobile chief Koh Dong-jin and confirmed in an email to CNET on Monday.
«Samsung can confirm the company will not unveil its flagship product at Mobile World Congress this year,» a company spokeswoman said in a statement.
The decision follows a thorough investigation into a fault with the Galaxy Note 7 that caused the phone to be recalled twice and then discontinued altogether in late 2016. Samsung revealed that, as suspected, it was a flaw with the phone’s battery that instigated multiple incidents in which Note 7 devices caught fire.
MWC, the world’s biggest trade show for mobile phones, has been used in the past by Samsung and other phone manufacturers as an opportunity to lift the lid on their most important devices of the year.
The Note 7 debacle is likely to have put the brakes on the launch, but Samsung has increasingly hosted its Samsung Unpacked events, during which it unveils its most exciting new mobile products, away from the chaos of trade shows. This trend looks set to continue now.
Following the S8 launch, which is expected to take place this spring, Samsung is also set to unveil the Galaxy Note 8 later in the year. In spite of the bad publicity generated by its overheating predecessor, the company is not giving up on the Note brand and believes loyal customers will flock to buy the phone.

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