Sonos One and Beam get Alexa Announcements

Amazon has started to bring one of the useful features of Alexa to the Sonos One and Beam: Alexa Announcements. This feature will let you broadcast one-way messages to all Alexa-enabled devices in your house. So, if you want to call your family for dinner or remind them about bed time, you can do it with these Alexa-enabled Sonos speakers. It’s coming first to Canada, the United States, and United Kingdom and will be available for English messages for now. The firmware update to enable this feature should be coming your way now so keep an eye out for it. You don’t need to do anything as it’ll automatically just update your speaker when it’s idle.

Insomniac has ‘no plans’ to produce another ‘Resistance’ game

If you’re still holding out hope that Insomniac Games will release another Resistance game, unfortunately, you’re out of luck. The developer has no plans to make another version of the shooter series. James Stevenson, community director for Insomniac told Finder, “Oh wow, if I was a betting man? It feels like it’s a longshot to me. But I have learned over the years to never say never. I think there are a lot of people out there that have fond memories of a Resistance game from the PS3 era, but yeah, never say never, it’s just that we have no plans to make another Resistance game in the future.”

The last Resistance game came out in 2011. But while Insomniac doesn’t have any plans, Stevenson points out that Sony owns the IP and if they wanted, they could return to the series. “It’s actually Sony that owns the IP and owns that universe. So I guess if they were really passionate about making Resistance 4 and we couldn’t or didn’t want to do it, Sony could totally engage another developer. But that would be up to Sony, not us.”

Razer set to launch Razer Phone 2 by December 2018

Razer was the first to put out a gamer-centric smartphone and it wants to build on that with a new iteration of the phone. Razer VP Chen Xiaoping announced at China Joy 2018 in Shanghai that the next Razer Phone will be coming by the end of the year in China. Chinese media speculate the new phone will come with a Snapdragon 855 processor because Qualcomm usually launches its new chipset in early December.

He said the phone will carry the “latest chipset” but isn’t specifying which one. We can expect the phone to feature top-notch specs, similar to the original Razer Phone. As for whether it’s getting a global release, well, that’s another thing we’d have to wait and see happen. But Razer did launch the original smartphone internationally so we’re expecting them to do the same.

Source: GSMArena

Qualcomm sends out invite for Wear OS chip launch on September 10th

It’s been two years since Qualcomm has updated the chip Android Wear devices devices have been using. Finally, a new chip is on its way and Qualcomm will be launching it next month for the rebranded Wear OS platform. The chipmaker sent out invites to journalists for an event happening on September 10^th. It shows a small smartwatch design with the words “It’s Time.”

Wareable did an interview with exec Pankaj Kedia and gave us clues on what to expect from the processor replacing the 2100 system-on-chip. It’s no longer just a modified phone processor but one that’s made specifically for wearables. And it’s supposed to offer better battery life and a better overall experience. Kedia said, “But when we go to generation three, it's designed from the ground up for a no-compromises smartwatch experience with dedicated chips that make your watch look pretty when you're not looking at it, that bring the best fitness and watch experience, and extend battery life.”

Source: Engadget