Red Bull Global Rallycross: Welcome to Canada

 Photo Credit: Larry Chen/Red Bull Content Pool

By Emily Chung

In celebration of Canada 150, the Red Bull Global Rally Cross (GRC) held its inaugural Canadian race in Ottawa June 17 and 18. The doubleheader featured a brand new track built one week before the event at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum.

While I’ve been to a few motorsport events, I’ve never followed the Global Rallycross before. When the opportunity came from BF Goodrich to attend the event, and have some time with Canadian-born North American Rally Champ and X-Games medalist Andrew Comrie-Picard (ACP) walking us through the race, I decided to take my 9-year-old son and spend the day in our nation’s capital.

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ASUS ZenWatch 2 & 3 aren’t getting Android Wear 2.0 just yet

Earlier in the year, Google released a list of all the smartwatches that were getting Android Wear 2.0 update. Many wearables on that list got the update but the ZenWatch 2 and 3 haven’t gotten it yet. And it seems the wait could take a while. ASUS has said it’ll release the update early in Q2. But with the second quarter over, there isn’t a sign of the update yet. According to ASUS’ Germany Twitter account, Android Wear 2.0 is coming to the ZenWatch 2 in July and the ZenWatch 3 is getting the update in August. ASUS USA’s Twitter account said Android Wear 2.0 was coming to the ZenWatch 3 “in the coming weeks.” But that tweet has since been deleted. And that doesn’t bode well for the update coming soon. We are still holding out hope that ASUS keeps its word and eventually get the update in the hands (or we should say wrists) of ZenWatch owners.

Source: Ubergizmo

Remastered 'StarCraft' in all its 4K glory gets August 14th release date

If you’ve been waiting for the release of the remastered version of StarCraft, then you’re going to like this news. The aptly titled StarCraft: Remastered gets an August 14^th release date around the world. The game—which has been overhauled for 4K Ultra HD graphics and higher fidelity audio, among others—is now available for pre-order and brings with it exclusive skins for those who pre-order now. The three building skins are called Aiur Nexus, Char Hive, and Korhal Command Center.

The game has a US$14.99 price tag and will let you toggle between the original and remastered versions depending on your preference. Some of the other features included in StarCraft: Remastered include cloud saving for replays, campaign progress, and hotkeys; player profiles with player statistics; new leaderboards; and matchmaking.

Source: SlashGear

Samsung said to be making solid-state batteries for smartphones

Even if you haven’t paid that close of an eye to tech news, you’ve most likely heard of the whole fiasco that was the Samsung Galaxy Note7 and its exploding units. It looks like Samsung is hoping to address this issue by making batteries that won’t catch fire even if things go wrong. According to an unnamed Samsung executive, the company is working on solid-state batteries that can be used for smartphones. “Our technological level to produce a solid-state battery for smartphones will be mature enough in one to two years,” a Samsung SDI executive told The Korean Herald. “However, it depends on Samsung Electronics whether it will be used for phones.” According to the same exec, rival company LG Chem is also working on similar products. 

Solid-state batteries don’t have any liquids that can spill or lead to fires and explosions. Lithium-ion batteries used in smartphones now have liquid electrolytes. These batteries, according to the Samsung SDI source, can also be used in electric vehicles but that’ll happen no sooner than 2025.

Source: BGR