Smartphone night vision in a tiny package

Seek Thermal gives you the thermal technology that was once only available for the military and other professionals. It's a tiny camera that attaches to your smartphone so you can get a thermal image of anything around you, showing you a temperature snapshot of your environment.
There are plenty of awesome real-world uses for Seek. For DIY and home-repair enthusiasts, the camera can help you see problems inside pipes or see where heat is escaping from around windows or doors. Home cooks can use it to check out their grill's hot and cool spots. Seek is also useful for home security, to see if any unwanted animals or humans are getting into your back yard at night.
At $250, the price is a bit steep, but Seek's versatility makes up for it. Though I wouldn't buy this device just for entertainment, it was very fun to review it because the images you can capture are just plain cool. It's worth noting that professional thermal-imaging tech can cost thousands of dollars, so the Seek is one of the first systems to make this kind of gear more accessible to the masses.
The Seek Thermal system includes a camera attachment for your Android or iOS device and an app that shows what the camera captures. I'll talk about the camera first.
Seek sells two smartphone camera attachments, the $250 Thermal camera and the $300 Thermal Xtra Range (XR), both available for iOS or Android devices. The difference between the two is that the XR can see objects twice as far as the original camera, with the same clarity and the XR has a manual focus feature. For the iPhone, you need to have a Lightning connector and iOS 7 or 8. For Android, you just need to run Jelly Bean 4.3.1 or later. For this review, I tested the original model Android camera and app.
The Seek camera is tiny and plugs right into your smartphone. Josh Miller/CNET
Seek's original thermal camera is tiny, about 1.6 inches long, 0.8 inch tall and 0.6 inch thick and it weighs just 0.5 ounce (14 grams). The chalcogenide lens is offset to the left side and on the right is the connector that you plug into your phone's Micro-USB port. Its tiny size makes it easy to slip into a pocket, but it also means that it's easy to lose it. And if you're spending $250 on it, you don't want to do that.
Thankfully, Seek also includes a well-made carrying case with a soft rubber interior that keeps the camera safe when you're not using it. It also has a loop on one side so that you can attach the case to a keychain or hang it from a workbench. The snap clasp is strong and sturdy so that it won't unlatch in your bag.
Once you've installed the Seek Thermal app (more about that below), using the camera is as simple as plugging it into your phone. The app will launch automatically and on Android you may need to authorize it to communicate with the camera. It's an easy setup that takes just a few seconds each time you want to use the Seek.
The Seek camera works in daylight or at night, basically in any light level, because it doesn't need visual light. Instead, it picks up the infrared waves that everything -- whether it's living or not -- emits. We can't see those waves with our naked eyes, so Seek turns those waves into a visual image, using color. Those IR waves can be used to determine temperature variations around you, so the colors you see with the Seek correspond to different temperatures around you. The effect is really neat to look at, and useful for seeing things normally hidden from our sight.
Seek relies on a tiny sensor chip and a software algorithm to create these thermal images. It captures 32,000 pixels with every shot and each pixel takes a different temperature measurement to create the whole photo or video. The camera can detect temperatures from -40 degrees Fahrenheit to 626 degrees Fahrenheit (-40 degrees Celsius to 330 degrees Celsius), which should fit all of your thermal needs.
A thermal selfie taken with the Seek. Sarah Mitroff/CNET
The photos and video that the Seek camera take aren't high-res by a long shot, at just 206 by 156 pixels. However, you can still make out some detail, especially if you hold the camera still for a few seconds before you snap a photo, so the lens can calibrate. In the test shots I took, most were a bit blurry, but in several I could capture smaller, identifying details. You can use the camera to see a thermal image in real time on your phone's screen, or take photos and video to look at later.
The camera uses an automatic black body shutter to keep the lens calibrated, and it makes a soft clicking noise that you can hear every few seconds. That shutter is different than the onscreen shutter you use to capture a still photo in the app, and in fact, you can't control the black body shutter at all; it's designed to run on its own.
Seek works best when you hold the camera still, whether you're taking photos or video. I found that if I moved the lens around too much, there was significant ghosting, meaning the thermal image would linger on my phone's screen after I pointed it at something new until the shutter clicked again. It takes a few seconds for the lens to focus on a new subject, so you need to be a bit patient when using the camera. I also found that the camera works better in low lighting because that way the heat from lamps or sunlight won't skew the image.
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A must-have adventure game that evolves as you play

Evoland (iOS|Android) is an action-adventure game whose graphics and gameplay evolve through the history of RPG gaming as you progress through its levels. The game is also very self-aware as it gives humorous nods to many of the most popular RPG games in history.
Evoland ($4.99, £3.99, AU$6.49) is the first game I've seen that captures a whole genre of gaming from its roots all the way up to the modern day, and I found it incredibly nostalgic to relive those early gaming technologies. But even if you weren't around for the beginnings of RPG gaming and early graphics, Evoland makes it fun to unlock each technology as you solve puzzles to complete the game's own unique story.
When you start the game there's just a thin strip of the world in two colors on your screen, and you can only move your character to the right. To the right is the first chest you can open, which unlocks the ability to go left. To the left is another chest that unlocks a 2D plane so you can go left, right, up, and down. You quickly realize that the chests unlock gaming technologies, so you're always on the lookout for the next one.
It's not just your movement that evolves, though. You also start the game in silence and only when you find the chest for early videogame music does the telltale digital melody start playing. Later, you'll get 16-bit color and an early form of "3D" called mode 7 (think of tilting the camera in Google Maps with a flat map).
The game continues like this, unlocking technologies as you find each chest, but you're also on a quest of your own in this rapidly changing world. You have multiple puzzles to solve on your journey and plenty of monsters to beat while the story and the technologies progress.
Another way the evolving technology makes the game fun is the way you fight monsters. In the beginning it's just a sword that lunges forward like you would see in early games such as the original Zelda. Later it switches to a turn-based mechanic as you would see in games like Pokemon and early Final Fantasy games. You'll touch an attack button, then select an enemy, and your character will launch forward to swing his sword, then return to his starting position. Even the turn-based fighting evolves as you play, going from 2D to colorful 3D with textures over time.
Later once you're past the turn-based era, you'll unlock tech that makes it so your sword swings in an arc. Even later, you'll get a combination move with a finishing slam that hits multiple enemies.

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Cheaper competitors outshine the Titanium LED

The market for LEDs is maturing rapidly, and that means that it's easier than ever to find light bulbs that offer high efficiency, satisfying light quality, and
a reasonable price point. It's a reality that spells competition for off-brand bulbs, and unfortunately, the Titanium LED from Green Creative comes up short.
A Bay Area startup, Green Creative first impressed me with its Cloud LED, a uniquely shaped, low-price LED floodlight that performed well in our tests. The $14 Titanium LED, the brand's more traditionally shaped 60W replacement, was also a fairly strong performer, but not as strong as similar bulbs like the Osram 60W Replacement Ultra LED that are available at a lower retail price point. Until that price catches up with the competition, the Titanium LED is a tough bulb to recommend.
The Titanium LED doesn't share the Cloud LED's outside-the-box approach to bulb design. With a frosted globe sitting atop a white plastic body that conceals the heat sinks, it's more or less the default build of today's common household LED.
That isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially if you just want a light bulb that'll blend in with your home decor. Still, it might be a disappointment for fans of the Cloud LED's unique design.
Yearly energy cost (3 hr. per day @ .11 kWh) Color temperature (measured / stated) Other color temperatures (price difference)
The Titanium LED checks most all of the boxes you'd want to see checked when replacing an incandescent. With a stated light output of 800 lumens (we measured it higher than that, at 835), you aren't getting shortchanged on brightness, and with a power draw of just 9 watts, it's efficient enough to claim more than 90 lumens per watt. It's also dimmable down to 3.8 percent of its maximum brightness, and it comes with a 3-year warranty.
All of that is very good, but compare it with that second column in the chart posted above: the Osram 60W Replacement Ultra LED, which costs $4 less than the Titanium LED. With 852 lumens from 8.5 watts, Osram's bulb is good for 100 lumens per watt, dims smoothly down to zero percent, and comes with a 5-year warranty. About the only place the Titanium LED can claim an edge is in the color-rendering score, where it beats Osram by a nose, 80 to 78.
The Titanium LED dims down smoothly, but not quite as low as Osram, and with more flicker than the Cree 4Flow. Tyler Lizenby/CNET
The Cree 4Flow LED is another strong competitor for Green Creative here. While it can't boast efficiency that's quite as high, Cree's plastic-bodied LED does manage to match the Titanium LED's light output, and it also dims down low without the same degree of flicker that we saw from Green Creative (or the Osram, for that matter).
More importantly, the 4Flow also costs just over half of what you'll need to spend for the Titanium LED. For an even cheaper option, you could consider the surprisingly impressive Ikea Ledare LED, which costs just $5.
That's pretty stiff competition for Green Creative. With bulbs like those from Osram, Cree, and Ikea each selling for less than $10, I would have liked to have seen something more from the Titanium LED to justify the $14 price point. It's in a similar position as the $15 Philips 60W Replacement LED, but that bulb at least offers near-perfect dimming. A feature like that, or perhaps a color-rendering score closer to 90 might have helped the Titanium LED to set itself apart.

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Yes, the 2015 VW GTI is still one of the best hot hatches ever

Blasting through the mountains on a sprint toward the Northern California coast, the Tomado Red compact merrily jaunts from left to right along a serpentine decline with the agility of a mogul skier. The lush redwoods whiz by in a green blur and I silence the pounding stereo soundtrack and enjoy the sensation of the drive, the weight of the steering, and the noise of the turbocharged engine. I imagine, just for a moment, that I'm instead in Germany's Black Forest or the Nurburgring. I haven't had this much fun in a very long time.
Yes, the car that many say started the hot hatchback class in 1975 is still one of the best in that class some 40 years and seven generations later. The 2015 Volkswagen GTI Mk.7 may be bigger, more powerful, and more technologically sophisticated than the Mk.1, but the character, the style, and the simple core of driving joy that has made this one of the most popular sport compacts on the planet is still at the heart of the hatch.
The GTI is powered by a revised version of the automaker's direct injected EA888 2.0-liter turbocharged engine. For 2015, that means a jump to 210 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. The red-hot hatch not only produces a good amount of power and torque for sporty driving, but it also does an excellent job delivering that power. Much of the available torque comes on early in the tachometer's swing, which makes the car feel quick off of the line and responsive around town.
While turbo lag is no longer an issue for the GTI, it would seem that VW has left a bit of the characteristic nonlinear forced induction power delivery in there for longtime fans of small turbocharged engines. Squeeze the throttle for a pass and you'll feel a noticeable surge of power that is both surprising and delightful.
The GTI puts its power to the front wheels via either an available six-speed DSG dual-clutch automatic transmission or a six-speed manual gearbox. The DSG (a $1,100 upgrade) is plainly the faster option with its lightning quick shifts and launch control, while the manual transmission is more engaging. Both are excellent choices. In a previous test, CNET's Wayne Cunningham found the DSG's chosen ratios to be a bit oddly spaced, which somewhat colored his take on the GTI's responsiveness. My week behind the wheel was with the splendid manual transmission, which featured slightly closer ratios and a rewarding, tactile feel when rowing through the gears.
The GTI's EPA numbers are better also better for 2015, at 25 mpg city and 34 mpg highway for the six-speed manual version and 25 mpg city and 33 mpg highway for the DSG.
Standard equipment for the GTI is Volkswagen's Cross Differential System (XDS+) which uses bias braking to enhance handling and to coax the hatchback's open differential to behave like a limited slip setup. The system is able to judiciously brake the inside wheel during cornering to reduce understeer and to apply braking pressure to a slipping drive wheel to transfer torque to the opposite end of the axle. It does all of this fairly transparently, only once during my testing did I notice the system in action tugging the nose back into line.
A true torque-sensing limited slip differential is available as part of a Performance package, which also includes a slight retune to the engine's program that bumps maximum power up to 220 horsepower and the ability to further spec the GTI's first-ever (for the North American market) adaptive suspension (DCC). Our example was not equipped with this $1,495 package or the $800 suspension upgrade, but was still an absolute hoot to drive.
All GTI models also now feature a drive mode selector system that toggles among Normal, Sport and Individual modes, the last of which is customizable. Sport mode adjusts the throttle map for maximum responsiveness and sharpens the electric power steering system. If equipped with either the DSG or the DCC, the transmission program and suspension setup are also altered for driving enjoyment. With our manual gearbox, I struggled to notice much difference between the Sport and Normal programs.

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Alienware Alpha review 

With or without Valve, the Steam Machines are coming. And with the Alienware Alpha, Dell is one of the first – and arguably the strongest – of the hopeful PC-based game consoles to grace us with its glow … literally.
The final Alienware Alpha, which first debuted during CES 2014, turned out to differ somewhat from the Alienware's vision. Rather than run with SteamOS, Valve's forever-in-beta operating system, Dell packed the Alpha with Windows 8.1. And in lieu of Valve's long-awaited Steam Controller, every Alpha box comes packing an Xbox 360 controller for Windows with a wireless receiver.
Finally, because Alienware beat Valve to the living room, the company had no choice but to develop an intermediary user interface (UI), so that users could play with the Alpha directly out of the box. The result is a product just short of Alienware's grand vision, but nevertheless a stylish, strong and bold device that perhaps is onto something.

But should the Alienware Alpha's $549 (£449, AU$699) price tag scare away the company's target console gamer, PC gamer hopeful audience? A limited-time, US-only $499 starting price (as of this writing) aside, the Alpha has set the bar for Steam Machines to come. However, the "Alpha" moniker will start to seem a tad ironic once we dig deeper into how this machine works.

Design

Since it's big debut at last year's CES, not much has changed about the Alienware Alpha's design language. The diminutive box still sports the same iconic, glowing alien head logo on its face, not to mention the 180-degree slice through its left corner, revealing a triangular LED. This time, however, the illuminated Valve logo is now replaced with a void wrapped in a triangle of light.
Of course, these lights can shine in a variety of colors, chosen through Alienware's custom UI – but more on that later. Just like before, the front of the box allows room for two USB 2.0 ports, with the rest of the inputs and outputs found in the back.
Wrapped in glossy black plastic on its sides and a matte plastic on its top, the Alpha screams style, but also smarts. Three of four of the box's sides feature ventilation for air to either enter or exit, so the machine doesn't get distractingly loud while playing games, nor does it get too hot at all.

I'll be frank: the Alpha is the not only the sharpest-looking Steam Machine yet, it's on par with the Xbox One and PS4 in terms of design. Hell, only a PC could match (or surpass) the leading consoles in power and manage to be a fraction of their size.
Plus, the entire top lid is removable, revealing a host of upgradeable parts. And Alienware encourages you to dive in and upgrade components as you see fit – just don't touch the graphics chip. That's an Nvidia GeForce GTX 860M that's been modified by the Green Team and Alienware to run Nvidia's latest Maxwell chip architecture and at a higher, undisclosed clock speed (higher frequency speed means faster graphics processing), and it is the only component you cannot replace in this machine.

Sure, that's technically an 'interface'

The custom UI that Alienware cooked up in lieu of an official SteamOS release sure gets the job done … but that's about it. Upon booting up the Alpha, you're met with a red screen with a few static, extraterrestrial-like scrawlings on it. Short after, four upright, opaque red rectangles appear with some basic options: Launch Steam, Settings, Help and Power.

Accessible using the controller's direction pad, the option presents the obvious app, in Valve's Big Picture Mode, that started this whole new set of shenanigans. The Settings option offers a number of parameters to tweak from video output settings to available networks and the system's HDMI passthrough capability.
Meanwhile, Help simply shows off all of the controller button combinations to quickly access various nooks and crannies of the UI, and Power lists all of the obvious options in addition to restarting the console in desktop mode (i.e. Windows) – but not without a mouse and keyboard, first.
Functionally speaking, Alienware's UI checks all of the boxes – it provides access to all of the settings that would be relevant to your out-of-the-box gaming experience. However, with static, boring imagery and zero animation or music (only a goofy clicking sound plays as you move about the menus), this UI does nothing to invite the player.

It's clear that this interface was not the intended end result, but an interim solution to keep players out of the desktop once Alienware knew that Valve was not going public with SteamOS in 2014. Regardless, the UI could do more to get players excited to, well, play.
But perhaps most importantly, the Alienware UI does a fine job of keeping out any app or service other than Steam. Want to play Titanfall? Then you'll have to hook up that mouse and keyboard, restart the console in desktop mode, and boot up the game like you would on any old PC. The sooner that Alienware brings EA's Origin and Ubisoft's UPlay game services into its custom UI, the better.

Original Article : Techradar.com

Raspberry Pi 2 review 

When the Raspberry Pi appeared In 2012 few could have envisaged how popular the Raspberry Pi would be. In the years after its release the Raspberry Pi has become the most popular single-board computer on the market and spawned many imitators, but none with the rich community that has grown organically around the Raspberry Pi.
The latest single-board computer from the Raspberry Pi Foundation comes with the spec boost that we were all hoping for. The Raspberry Pi 2 is the latest in a long line of products from the Foundation and can run a number of Linux distros (and even Windows 10).
It really is a barebone board in every sense -- even to the point where you will have to find your own micro-USB cable to power it up (a move made to cut down on costs). All things considered, the Raspberry Pi 2 really is amazing value at just £25 including VAT ($33, or AUS$45).

The Raspberry Pi 2 is exactly the same size as the B+ meaning that finding a case is relatively easy

Since the release of the original Raspberry Pi there have been three versions of the flagship B model, starting at 256MB RAM and increasing to 512MB with the second B and B+. But in all of these models the system on a chip (SoC) has remained the trusty BCM2835 with an ARM v11 700Mhz CPU, the same as the Now TV box. The community has done wonderful things with these resources but now the spec boost that they were waiting for has arrived.

In early February, the Raspberry Pi 2 arrived and the original ARM11 has been replaced with a Cortex-A5 CPU running at an improved 800MHz. But rather than stick with a single core, the Raspberry Pi 2 comes with four cores which speeds up the Raspberry Pi by as much as six times.
To go with the new CPU, the amount of RAM has also been upgraded to 1GB. The rest of the hardware, however, matches that of the B+: a Videocore GPU, a 40-pin GPIO, four USB 2 ports and 10/100 Ethernet. Physically the Raspberry Pi 2 also has the same dimensions as the B+.

Raspberry Pi 2 ports

Performance and benchmarks

Specifications:
SoC: Broadcom 2836
CPU: Quad-core ARM7 800MHz
GPU: Videocore IV 250MHz
Memory: 1GB
GPIO: 40pin
Ports: 4x USB 2.0, 100BaseT Ethernet, HDMI, MicroSD card
Size: 85.60 × 56.5mm (about 3.2 x 2.1-inch)
To show the improvements made to the Raspberry Pi 2, we wanted to run a few real-world benchmarks to show how powerful the new Pi actually is when compared to the B+. The first test on our list is booting both Pis from cold to login prompt.
The B+ managed this is in 33 seconds versus 17 seconds for the Raspberry Pi 2. We then set both Pis to boot straight to desktop and the B+ managed 42 seconds while the Pi 2 came in at 21 seconds -- half the time of the B+! Once at the desktop we tested a few common applications. Creating a new world in Minecraft took 42 seconds on the B+, and 21 seconds on the Pi 2. Loading IDLE 3 took 13 seconds on the B+ and a mere 4 seconds on the Pi 2.

Running SunSpider in the new optimised browser gave a glimpse at real-world performance. Over the suite of tests there was a 2.5 times boost in speed. Considering the complexities of multi-threading this sounds like a reasonable expectation. Even so, individual results showed a near four-fold increase on this unoptimised code.
The Raspberry Pi B+ and Pi 2 both come with the same Videocore GPU as before and in our tests there was a small improvement in FPS (Frames Per Second) for the Raspberry Pi 2 largely thanks to the increased RAM present on the board. Our last test was file transfer speeds via Ethernet, for this we used scp to copy a 692MB Big Buck Bunny video file to each Pi. On the B+ we saw an average of 3.8MB/s and on the Pi 2 we saw 4.6MB/s, which is an 0.8MB/s speed increase.
To discover for ourselves how Raspberry Pi CEO Eben Upton arrived at his claim that the Raspberry Pi 2 is six times more powerful than its predecessor, we ran a Sysbench test on both models. It clocked in at 509.58 on the B+, versus 74.68 on the Raspberry Pi 2 -- a 6.8x difference in favour of the newer model.
The Raspberry Pi Foundation have released an updated Raspbian image which includes the ARMv7 kernel image necessary to use the new CPU. Applications written for the original Raspberry Pi are fully compatible with the Raspberry Pi 2, though -- building upon the rich projects that have been written since the initial launch of the Raspberry Pi.

Final verdict

The Raspberry Pi 2 is less than half the cost of a PS4 or Xbox One game but, given the time and effort, could provide far more satisfaction in the long run. Available since December, the new sleek Raspbian desktop runs well on the B+, but on the Pi 2, it feels like a responsive desktop that we normally see on our main computers.
The speed increase provided by the quad-core CPU and 1GB RAM is more than welcome, and retaining the B+ form factor keeps a strong tie to the many existing add-ons. It is a powerful platform for hackers and makers and also a competent solution for a low-cost computer in schools and homes around the world.
It should be noted that the Raspberry Pi 2 may prove a little daunting to newcomers -- particularly ones that have not come across Linux before, but there are plenty of resources out there to help you on your way. You'll have to grab yourself a micro-USB cable to get started, but they're fairly ubiquitous and can be had for next to nothing.
The Raspberry Pi 2 answers a lot of the requests made by the community and provides a stable and well-supported platform for hackers, makers and learners to carry on making excellent projects for many years to come.

Original Article : techradar.com

Samsung Gear VR review

 

In 1896, a French short film called L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat was screened to the public. As the story goes, some people were so terrified by the realism of the train coming towards them that they fled to the back of the room in fear.
Since then, nothing has quite aroused the same reaction in an audience. That is, until virtual reality. It's an experience that can be incredible, immersive and astonishingly real, and, like the Lumière brothers' movie, we're still at the start of this story.
It's been more than two years since the Oculus Rift became one of Kickstarter's biggest success stories yet. The Rift is still a work in progress, but that hasn't stopped other players from moving forward in this area. Samsung's horse in the race, the Gear VR, is a big deal: the first and closest thing to a consumer-ready product to hit the market.

I say closest because this is still a beta product - as signified by its "Innovator Edition" subtitle - but one that's been designed in partnership with Oculus VR, using the same optical technology as the Rift. Plus the headset itself is just a conduit; the Gear VR uses the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 in lieu of a display of its own.

But Samsung isn't only first to market, it's also first to take virtual reality mobile. Ever explored the far reaches of space from the backseat of a bus? How about taking a trip to the bottom of the ocean from the comfort of your bed? Heck, take it in the bath if you want the full 4D experience (just don't get it wet).
The headset itself is reasonably affordable at $199 (about £126, AU$228) but with a catch: you need to own a Note 4 to use it, and at upwards of £550 (US$700, about AU$900) they're not cheap.

Portability won't just make virtual reality easier to use, it'll make VR accessible to everyone. The technology is already proving itself, but virtual reality's biggest challenge is yet to come: edging out of the margins of PC gaming and into the mainstream. The question is, will Gear VR be the one to do that?

Design

The design of Gear VR sits somewhere between Oculus Rift DK 2 and Google Cardboard. The white plastic shell is moulded into the familiar ski-goggle headset design, on the back of which is an elastic strap that fits around the sides and top of your head. Even with the Note 4 inserted it doesn't feel too heavy.
For obvious reasons Samsung has kept the device as light as possible, and with a bit of strap adjusting the whole thing stays nicely in position through any vigorous head movements, without feeling like it's weighing you down.

The focus adjustor on the top might need a bit of tweaking, especially if you're a glasses wearer. Despite the impressively low latency and high resolution virtual reality is still at a point where some people will come away feeling a tad queasy, so it's important that you're always using Gear VR at optimum clarity.

So, how the hell do you control the Gear VR if the phone is inside it? Samsung offers two means of interaction: a touchpad and back button on the side of the headset, or an optional Android controller. Using the swipe-based touchpad is easy enough for navigating menus and interacting with some of the basic games and experiences, but as I'll get onto later, you really need a controller to get the most out of Gear VR.

Naturally, Samsung's headset is nothing without the screen, and you'd be hard pushed to find a smartphone better than the Note 4 right now. The 2,560 x 1,440-pixel, 5.7-inch OLED display provides a sufficiently rich image. Married with that is a Snapdragon 805 processor, together making for a respectable wires-free VR experience.

To create the optical illusion of virtual reality the Note 4 display divides into two screens that blend together again when viewed through the lenses. But while undoubtedly impressive, the limitations of the Note 4 screen are still obvious.
The resolution and latency are good but limited by a device that wasn't primarily built for virtual reality. In particularly vibrant worlds the pixels are still visible, creating a barrier to full immersion that's often hard to overlook. But in less colourful environments, such as Oculus Cinema, the Note 4's super deep blacks are impressively authentic.

Once perfect - and come Oculus market launch, it should certainly be a lot better - VR will offer an experience that's difficult to distinguish from reality. It's so close right now, but it's not quite there.

Features and games

I hear a lot of people say that VR will need its "killer app" in order to become mainstream. I'm not so sure about that, but VR does need to be a myriad of games and experiences, and as far as that goes, Samsung's swelling virtual reality marketplace is a promising glimpse of what's to come.
The UI is rather bare-bones, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. You've got the Home menu, the Library and the Store, all of which are pretty self explanatory. Your most recently used apps will show on the home screen, while the Library offers a complete list of all your downloads with the option to filter.

Jumping between menus is as simple as moving your head and tapping the touchpad, and just about everything can be done from within the headset, negating the need to take out the Note 4 for any reason until you're done playing.
I tried a number of different experiences during my time with the Gear VR, most of which were free and many of which required the optional controller to play. Anshar Wars taps into the most primitive of our VR desires: to fly around in space and shoot aliens. Then there's James's Legacy: The Prologue, a beautifully designed adventure game made of colourful, cuboid worlds - think an RPG Mario Galaxy - that goes against the grain by presenting itself in third person.

But perhaps my most memorable experience with Gear VR so far has come from Shooting Showdown, a simple first person shooter that pits you against another random online player on a firing range.
Despite the fact their "body" was hidden the other side of a dividing wall for the duration of our contest, there was something rather awesome about sharing an immersive virtual space with another player. I know I said virtual reality doesn't need a "killer app", but the first proper VR MMO is going to be incredible.
For now, most of these are bite-size mini experiences; the sorts of things you'll keep installed for the sake of showing your friends how awesome virtual reality is, but there are only a handful that you'll go back to yourself. However, between Samsung's Oculus store and Milk VR service, I'm hopeful the library will swell rapidly.

Original article : techradar.com