On Tuesday, the Facebook-owned photo sharing app announced it is running a test in Canada starting later this week that hides the total number of likes on photos and videos. Likes, which are shown as hearts on the app, will be removed from the main feed, permalink pages and profiles.
While followers won't be able to see the total number of likes a post has received, the owner of the account still can.
"We are testing this because we want your followers to focus on the photos and videos you share, not how many likes they get," an Instagram spokesperson said.
The news was announced at Facebook's(FB) annual developer conference, F8, in San Jose.
The test is likely to elicit a range of reactions, from anger to relief. Likes are often used as a metric of popularity. Some Instagram users feel pressure to rack up the likes or post photos curated for the social media age, such as at Instagrammable pop-ups or social-media friendly restaurants. Not getting enough likes can even affect some users' self-esteem. According to some studies, Instagram is the most detrimental social networking app for young people's mental health.
"Likes are powerful because they are immediate feedback," said Renee Engeln, a psychology professor at Northwestern University. "In a way, likes give you the same kind of hit like a gambler gets at a slot machine."
Engeln said she's had young women tell her their day can be ruined when a post doesn't get enough likes. Sometimes they'll even delete the photo.
Although removing public-facing likes could result in users posting more authentic content and feeling less pressure on the platform, experts said it's not a cure-all solution.
"For teenagers, this is great because it would no longer highlight levels of popularity of themselves against other kids," said Randi Priluck, a professor and associate dean at Pace University focused on social media and mobile marketing. "But they're still going to see their own likes. People are very driven by rewards so they're still going to be competing for those likes. It's not going to fully solve the problem."
It also doesn't address or fix some of the other factors that can impact the self-esteem of people on the platform, such as bullying, feeling left out or thinking other people's lives are better or more glamorous than their own.
"None of that goes away when you take away likes," said Karen North, an expert in social media and psychology at the University of Southern California. "Regardless if Instagram takes away likes, you can't escape the inevitable that people will still compare their lives and feel inferior."
The move, if rolled out more broadly, could also cause some confusion for the influencer marketing industry. Social media stars working with brands on partnerships are often paid based on engagement on their posts, and part of that involves likes.
As a result, comments, follower counts or other metrics could become more important to people making money on Instagram.
"It will certainly create some near-term inefficiencies in how some of these deals get done," said Kamiu Lee, CEO of influencer marketing platform Activate. "In the long term, the industry will figure it out. It will just shift attention to some of these other things."
Other social networks, such as Twitter(TWTR), have also discussed the idea of making likes and follower counts less prevalent. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey even texted about it with rapper Kanye West, who shared screenshots from their conversation on his Twitter account.
Instagram's test was first spotted earlier this month by Jane Manchun Wong, a Hong Kong-based woman who searches for unreleased features in popular apps like Facebook and Instagram as a hobby.
At the time, an Instagram spokesperson denied the rumors and said: "We're not testing this at the moment, but exploring ways to reduce pressure on Instagram is something we're always thinking about."
Enlarge/ Say hello to the Valve Index, developed and manufactured by game studio Valve.
Sam Machkovech
BELLEVUE, Washington—The Valve Index, a new virtual reality system from the creators of beloved video game series like Half-Life and Portal and the mega-popular Steam game store, is an aspirational product. Its sales pitch, as explained by various Valve staffers, revolves around the VR experience of tomorrow.
Headset specs
Valve Index
HTC Vive Pro
Display
2880×1600 (1440×1600 per eye) "fast-switching" LCD panels
2880×1600 (1440×1600 per eye) AMOLED panel
Refresh rate
90Hz, 120Hz, or 144Hz
90Hz
Field of view
130 degrees with integrated FOV "eye relief" knob
110 degrees
Audio
Near-field off-ear speakers with 3D directional audio support; built-in microphone
Integrated adjustable earcups with 3D directional audio support; built-in microphone
PC connection
Custom single-piece cable
Custom single-piece cable with PC junction box
Optional Bundled Accessories
Two wireless motion-tracked controllers with rechargeable batteries, two SteamVR 2.0 room-scale tracking stations
Two wireless motion-tracked controllers with rechargeable 960mAh batteries, two SteamVR 1.0 room-scale tracking stations
Modularity
Front trunk ("frunk") expansion port with USB 3.0 connector; front-facing stereo cameras
Front-facing stereo cameras
Price
$499 ($999 with two tracking stations, two controllers)
$799 ($1,099 with two tracking stations, two controllers)
That's a nice way of saying that Valve is going for features and dreams rather than affordability with its $999 Valve Index kit, which ships "by the end of June" after "limited" pre-orders go live "in May" for users in the contiguous US and most of Western Europe (the UK is left out for now).
But through the course of Valve's reveal event, its aspirations for VR's future became abundantly clear—and abundantly conservative. If you saw last month's news about Valve's VR headset and began dreaming big, today is the day to scale those dreams back.
The Valve Index does not read your brain waves, does not track your heart rate, and does not track your eyeballs' motion. The Valve Index does not innovate with an "inside-out" tracking system. It does not include an array of secret cameras or sensors and does not bounce sound waves via hidden or embedded speakers. The Valve Index does not employ a shrunken, "infinite pixel" panel or come with a revolutionary new take on foveated rendering. The Valve Index does not include a built-in processing unit. It must be connected to a gaming-caliber PC with a long cord trailing from the back of your head.
Also, the Index was not introduced alongside a new Valve video game. We learned in February 2017 that three Valve VR games are on their way, but this week's Index event wasn't used to premiere any of them. In fact, that bad news was met with more bad news: only one Valve VR game is slated to launch by the end of 2019, and we didn't get to see or test it. (For better or worse, this game will not be an Index exclusive.) Valve's Doug Lombardi says there's "no announcement" on the two other games "at this time."
Valve provided a few of its own handsome Valve Index photos, which are mixed up with our own.
The Valve Index's speakers hover above your ears, so you never feel them touch you.
View from above the Index.
View from below the Index.
This backside clamp cinches the Index to your head, much like the PlayStation VR.
This "eye relief" knob mechanically moves the Index's pair of lenses closer to your face in ways that supposedly work better for glasses-wearers and large-headed users than traditional eye-spacer dials.
Another view from below, this time with a glass head.
Sam Machkovech
Valve provided this image as a preview of what the "five degree" lens angling looks like internally.
One Valve staffer told me where they bought this glass head, and I subsequently forgot. Pier One?
Sam Machkovech
More Index.
Side angle of the fit without a head.
So what is Valve's big aspiration for the future of VR as far as the Index is concerned? The answer is long-term comfort. In Valve's eyes, that goal doesn't (yet) include features that we have been dreaming of, such as reducing the clutter of an average PC-VR experience, dropping the price, optimizing performance with eye-tracking systems, or liberating users with true, cordless freedom. Valve wants to convince us that Index is as good as VR users are going to get at a $999 price point in 2019—and that it delivers $999 worth of VR quality in 2019.
"Oftentimes with virtual reality, people want to say what's 'good enough,'" one Valve representative said during an informal Q&A. "And their sample size for 'good enough' is five minutes [of VR use]. One of the driving factors for our game teams, and externally for our partners, is that we want long-form VR experiences."
Another Valve staffer interrupted, saying, "I don't use VR for 30 minutes a day. I use VR hours a day. This is where we ended up. What's good enough for 20 minutes, 30 minutes, is dramatically different than one hour, two hours. We think tracking, optics, displays, ergonomics, input fidelity, the comfort of your hands—all of those matter a lot."
"They're all coefficients, too!" an engineer added. "They're all related."
But Valve didn't hand us a box complete with an Index, a "long-form VR experience" (like, you know, an in-development Valve game), and hours of time to put that hypothesis to the test. Until that day comes, we're left with spec sheets and an odd series of hands-on, eyes-on impressions.
Field of view of dreams
Index's interesting elements are as follows: a pair of fast-switching, custom-made LCD panels, with a combined pixel resolution of 2880x1600; an increased field-of-view (FOV) compared to most VR headsets, up to 130 degrees; new handheld controllers, finally launching after years of public teases; a pair of floating, above-the-ear speakers; an empty front-of-headset compartment, which includes a USB 3.0 Type-A adapter and no promises of attachments to come; and a reliance on "lighthouse" tracking boxes already used in systems like the HTC Vive. (We're also in familiar Vive VR territory with the dangling cable plugged into a gaming PC.)
Let's start with the Index's pair of pixel-filled panels, which Valve's staffers described at length. Instead of a single OLED panel, Index comes with a pair of fast-switching LCDs that have been custom-fabricated with an emphasis on subpixel density. They have been positioned to spread the visible VR FOV further than in any consumer-priced VR headset we've ever seen. And they are rated to run at incredibly high frame rates. In addition to the Vive-like rate of 90Hz, the screens can clock up to either 120Hz or 144Hz.
Most consumer-grade VR headsets use a single display panel, which is then translated by a pair of large, curved lenses. The Valve Index twists this convention by using a pair of LCD panels, each sporting a 1440x1600 resolution. That doesn't make them a combined 2880x1600 panel. Instead, the panels are physically separated, then individually angled at a roughly 5 degree angle.
The result is a wider peripheral distribution by default, but the system also allows Valve to implement a new type of slider. Valve insists that no matter what face shape or pair of glasses you bring into the Index, you can turn an "eye relief" knob to bring the Index's lenses as close to your face as comfortably possible, and the device does so in a way that guarantees a greater effective FOV. After describing most FOV sales pitches as "dishonest" due to many users' faces or glasses obstructing that full FOV potential, Valve insists that its eye relief knob will guarantee a "20 degree" increase in FOV for all users compared to traditional "110-degree" systems.
slider and comfort
The FOV knob's mechanism can get uncomfortably close to the face, and it isn't padded. As I struggled to find a proper fit in my first minutes of testing, I felt a rigid, plastic piece brush against the bridge of my nose. Once I found the proper fit for the Valve Index, I positioned this piece appropriately and no longer felt it randomly brush against my nose during testing.
Related: I didn't have enough time to get a sense of headset breathability and comfort. Index is not noticeably lighter than other wired PC headsets, and like PlayStation VR, its rotary dial locks onto the back of the head. Its microfiber mask lining trapped a noticeable bit of heat during testing, but the device was neither extremely uncomfortable nor extremely breezy and cozy.
Additionally, Valve insists that its SteamVR platform will adjust VR games' and apps' rendered imagery to translate across a pair of non-parallel lenses so that developers don't have to individually account for this Index-specific difference.
What sold me on the FOV boost wasn't any particular game demo, however. The demos I experienced were focused on front-and-center content—likely because the games in question need to be compatible with other 110-degree headsets. No, it was a VR movie theater moment, where I virtually sat down and watched 1080p movie trailers streamed directly from YouTube. That's not a great resolution to beam into a high-res VR headset, made worse by YouTube's compression. Yet I was taken aback by this video's full widescreen ratio, as opposed to being letterboxed into a tighter 16:9 square.
I could see most of the virtual cinema screen, as if I was seated in a comfortable real-life theater. I needed to glance a bit left or right for the most peripheral content, but otherwise, I could comfortably take in a giant image at all times. That is not how most VR headsets work. This moment stayed with me and helped me realize how awesome Index's FOV boost was when I went home and tried the same demo on my Vive Pro, which forced me to constantly sweep my glances in either direction to take in a full cinema-ratio image.
The back. The top is glossy and hard, the bottom is matte and soft-touch.
Ron Amadeo
The soft-touch back stops before it hits the sides.
Ron Amadeo
There's still a fingerprint reader and a two-tone color on the back.
Ron Amadeo
The camera sticks out just a bit.
Ron Amadeo
The volume and power are on this side.
Ron Amadeo
A USB-C port and no headphone jack on the bottom.
Ron Amadeo
Alphabet, Google's parent company, had its earnings call yesterday, and, while these calls are primarily about advertising click-through rates and traffic-acquisition costs, yesterday's call actually contained some information about Google's smartphone sales. It turns out sales of the Google Pixel flagship are down year over year, meaning the Pixel 3 is selling worse than the Pixel 2.
Here's the full quote from Alphabet and Google CFO Ruth Porat:
Hardware results reflect lower year-on-year sales of Pixel, reflecting in part heavy promotional activity industry-wide given some of the recent pressures in the premium smartphone market.
"Recent pressures in the premium smartphone market" can mean a lot of things, but basically Google is admitting that there is some tough competition out there for the Pixel 3 and that the phone isn't selling as well as its predecessor. Google doesn't break out "hardware results" in its earnings report, so we can only guess at what the year-over-year difference is. It was bad enough to mention in an earnings call, though.
We weren't huge fans of the changes in the Pixel 3. The smaller version was $799—$150 more than the Pixel 2 from the year earlier—and the larger Pixel 3 XL was $50 more than the Pixel 2 XL, or $899. For this extra money, Google downgraded from a metal back to glass, it stuck with a meager 4GB of RAM—the lowest of any Android flagship—and it even made some software blunders like locking users into its half-baked gesture navigation system (which it is still trying to fix in this year's Android Q release). To top it all off, the designs were pretty ugly, ranging from the dated Pixel 3 bezels to the outrageously large display notch on the Pixel 3 XL.
As for the Pixel 3's competition, Google has to deal with mainstream juggernauts like Apple's iPhone XS and Samsung's Galaxy S10—phones from two companies with a stronger focus on hardware, more carrier deals, and bigger advertising budgets. In the enthusiast market, Samsung offers higher specs, and OnePlus offers better value with a device like the OnePlus 6T.
Google's Pixel distribution network is also downright terrible compared to the competition. Google sells the Pixel in only a tiny handful of countries, while its competitors have a worldwide presence. The Pixel 3 is for sale in a whopping 12 countries and has zero retail stores. In the US, Google's only real carrier partner is Verizon. Apple, on the other hand, has a retail empire, with iPhone sales in 70 countries, more than 500 Apple retail stores, and iPhones in pretty much every single carrier store. Samsung casts an even wider net with the Galaxy S10, which is for sale in about 130 countries, and again, just about every carrier store on Earth.
Investors weren't happy to hear about the lower Pixel sales. During the Q&A portion of the call, Justin Post from Bank of America even compared the company's hardware efforts to (gasp) Microsoft!
On the hardware business, I think there's some concerns that it's just not getting off to a really strong trajectory. [There are] some comparisons to Microsoft 10 years ago. Really, just help us understand how that hardware business is important to Google and how you're thinking about it long term.
After highlighting the company's success with Google Home, Sundar said the smartphone industry was facing a "headwind." He went on to talk about the general smartphone industry trends like foldable phones and 5G, but neither of those features will be exclusive to the Pixel.
What might help Pixel sales is a cheaper phone, which Google is planning to announce on May 7. At Google I/O 2019, the company will announce the Pixel 3a, a mid-range version of the Pixel with a cheaper SoC and a plastic body. We don't actually know the price yet, so it's hard to say if the phone will be a sales success, but at least it's something. Google has also aggressively been slashing the price of the Pixel 3 lately, with a half-price sale happening earlier this month.
Fresh markdows are in this Tuesday at Amazon, with Late 2018 11-inch iPad Pros falling to new record low prices. Save up to $300 instantly while supplies last.
The new, lower prices reflect an additional $25 to $100 discount on select models, with overall prices on the latest iPad Pros starting at $674.99. In addition to savings on tablets, Amazon is also issuing steep price cuts on MacBook Pros and even budget-friendly iPads. For a complete rundown of the latest offers, be sure to check out Amazon's Apple deals page, as well as our own Apple Price Guide, with the latter offering price comparison shopping across top Apple authorized resellers.
Brand-new markdowns
Plus save $125 to $200 on other 11" iPad Pros
12.9" iPad Pros (Late 2018) are also on sale
$999 13" MacBook Pros
Additional Apple Deals
AppleInsider and Apple authorized resellers are also running a handful of additional exclusive promotions this month on Apple hardware that will not only deliver the lowest prices on many of the items, but also throw in discounts on AppleCare, software and accessories. These deals are as follows:
Garmin is updating its line of Forerunner GPS running watches today with an entirely new lineup of watches, ranging from the entry-level $199.99 Forerunner 45 to the $599.99 Forerunner 945, which is meant for professional athletes.
The Forerunner 45 (and 45S, which is a smaller version of the 45) have gotten the biggest visual changes of the lineup. They have the same round watchface as the pricier models in the Forerunner lineup, along with some new tracking features for planning exercises throughout the day and support for Garmin’s Coach function. Like all of Garmin’s Forerunner watches, there’s a built-in heart rate sensor and onboard GPS.
The 245 (and 245 Music, which is the same as the 245, but with the option to locally store up to 500 songs) is an updated version of the 235, and it gets newly added support for stress and sleep tracking, more sports to track, and an updated UI. It also adds a pulse oximeter sensor for even more fitness data.
Lastly, there’s the new Forerunner 945, the $599.99 flagship of the lineup. The 945 adds a pulse oximeter to measure oxygen absorption, Garmin Pay for contactless purchases, and full-color maps for navigating while out running. It can store up to 1,000 songs locally (from compatible services like Spotify or Deezer), and there’s a new tool for analyzing past workout history to improve future training. Garmin promises up to two weeks of battery life in smartwatch mode, up to 36 hours in GPS mode, and up to 10 hours with both GPS and music active.
The Forerunner 45 models will be available later in May. The Forerunner 245, Forerunner 245 Music, and Forerunner 945 are available now.
This is a thicc ice cream sandwich boy.Photo: Sam Rutherford (Gizmodo)
Earlier this year, the Energizer Power Max P18K Pop made a splash at Mobile World Congress thanks to its massive size and 18,000mAh battery. But while everyone wants better battery life on their smartphones, it turns out no one wants it so bad that they’d be willing to lug around an inch-thick brick. Today, the phone’s Indiegogo campaign stumbled into oblivion, raising a mere $15,005 of its ambitious $1.2 million goal—a paltry 1.2 percent in total.
Still, it’s kind of hard to be terribly sad since this was clearly a stunt, to begin with. While we initially reported the phone would go on sale for 600 euros (roughly $675) this summer, Avenir Telecom—the suspect company behind the phone—went to Indiegogo in the first place. There’s a reason most tech journalists are wary of products that rely on crowdfunding campaigns. Most are gimmicky prototypes hocked by marketers that aren’t intended to see the light of day, regardless of how much media buzz it might get. The ones that do make it are usually run by companies like Sphero, which have a good reputation for bringing products to market, don’t really need the cash, and mostly use crowdfunding platforms to engage with a community of enthusiasts.
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There are definite signs that the Energizer phone’s Indiegogo campaign was more stunt than a realistic fundraising attempt. Although it offered a discounted $549 early bird price, $1.2 million is a lofty goal that would’ve required significantly more backers than the eleven it actually received. That means an average contribution of over $1,300 per backer, which doesn’t bode well for the viability of any crowdfunded project. Secondly, this sort of product always does well on a stage like Mobile World Congress, where it offers the exact sort of novelty and spectacle that grizzled tech writers and enthusiasts can gawk at. In real life? The market for the P18K was always going to be much more niche, especially given its chunky build.
This will not fit in my jean pocket.Photo: Sam Rutherford (Gizmodo)
Originally, the phone was meant to deliver 90 hours of call time, 100 hours of music playback, two days of video playback, and 50 days of standby all on a single charge. Now, I would love that but not at the expense of lugging around an actual brick in my purse.
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It seems Avenir Telecom has taken its massive failure to heart. In the comments section of the campaign, the company stated, “Although it didn’t reach its goal, we will work on further improvement on the P18K (design, thickness, etc.) as we do believe there is a rising interest for smartphones with incredible battery life, which can also be used as power banks.”
Cool. Call us when it’s thinner. For now, us regular folks are perfectly fine settling for an extra charger or external battery.
Garmin is following in Fitbit's footsteps by adding new female-focused tracking features to its companion Connect app.
Announced alongside its new Foreunner 45 series, Forerunner 245 and Forerunner 945 watches, the new Menstrual Cycle Tracking feature will enable Garmin users to track their cycle, log symptoms, receive predictions for period and fertile windows and get educational insights from their Garmin Connect app.
Garmin says the new feature was developed by women and is inclusive of all cycle types (so, regular cycle, irregular, pre-menopausal and menopausal). Connect users will receive insights based on which phase of their cycle with some insight examples including:
- “Once your period starts, you might find it easier to push yourself physically. In 2002, Paula Radcliffe broke the world record for the fastest marathon in Chicago while dealing with menstrual cramps.”
- “Your body naturally craves high amounts of protein at this point in your cycle. Lentils, seeds or lean meats are great options to keep you going.”
- “During the first 2 weeks of your cycle, your body is primed for maximum strength, speed and power. This is the best time to focus on more challenging strength training.”
Users will also be able to track daily physical and emotional symptoms and aims to bring awareness to fluctuations in things like sleep, mood, appetite and athletic performance. Additional features can be unlocked with Garmin devices that are compatible with Garmin's Connect IQ store letting users get cycle tracking information and discreet period reminders.
Garmin's Health division is also sponsoring a research study at The University of Kansas Medical Center to examine how wearables and the data they produce can assist menstrual cycle tracking and ovulation prediction. So there's clearly scope that these features could become even more useful and insightful in the future.
The Menstrual Cycle Tracking feature will work with the Forerunner 645 Music, vÃvoactive 3, vÃvoactive 3 Music and fÄ“nix 5 Plus Series watches. Garmin plans to add the functionality to the Fenix 5 Series, Fenix Chronos, Forerunner 935, Forerunner 945, Forerunner 645, Forerunner 245 and Forerunner 245 Music 'soon'.
The Energizer Power Max P18K Pop, an Energizer phone with a massive 18,000mAh battery, has finally finished ringing its death knell, after a wildly unsuccessful Indiegogo campaign saw it receive only 1% of the required funding.
The massive handset was shown off at MWC 2019 in February, and launched on Indiegogo in late March. However it doesn't seem like many people were taken with the Energizer-branded phone – the crowdfunding window is now closed, and the device only ended up raising $15,000 / £11,000, with 11 backers.
Avenir Telecom, who licenses the Energizer name for use on smartphones, set the crowdfunding goal at a whopping $1.2 million / £920,000, and at $599 / £461 for an individual phone, the company would need to ship 2,000 of the handsets to reach the goal.
There were also savings for multi-buy pledges, which seem to be what the few backers chose to fund, so in reality Energizer likely anticipated shipping 2,500 or 3,000 phones. Now, however, it looks like the Energizer Power Max P18K Pop will never see the light of day
Why did the Energizer phone fail?
We've already written an in-depth analysis of why no-one funded the Energizer phone, but to put it simply, there's a very limited audience for a phone the size and weight of a brick.
Despite some pretty intriguing and novel features, like the dual-sensor pop-up camera and the massive battery, we just couldn't see anyone choosing to spend their money on the Energizer Power Max P18K Pop, especially when other great phones exist for the same price.
At the end of the day, the Energizer phone was just a novelty – one with a long, confusing name too.
The first report of a broken Galaxy Fold screen caused alarm. By the fifth, many onlookers had lost faith in Samsung's brave new foldable phone design. Samsung's one saving grace in the embarrassing, sensationalized debacle is that the issues -- three in all -- were discovered on early production units in reviewers' hands, and Samsung is delaying the Fold's official release to address what went wrong. (CNET's review unit was never affected.) These weren't the devices that Samsung customers had shelled out $1,980 apiece for, and that means the world's largest phone-maker has another shot, perhaps a slim one, to make things right.
By now, Samsung has reclaimed the Galaxy Fold units, defective and whole alike. Returning those units after a 10-day review period was always part of the deal. But there's little doubt that Samsung is also attempting to run damage control on what has become a runaway situation and a black eye for the brand's reputation as an innovator.
There's still a sliver of hope for the Fold after its new shipping date in June. After shoring up problems with the screen and hinge -- which are easily damaged and compromised -- and after finding ways to communicate to future Fold owners that they should never, under any circumstance, remove the protective screen film, there's still one thing the brand must do: give Fold owners a red carpet experience.
The Galaxy Fold is not your typical phone by a long shot. At twice the cost of the excellent Galaxy S10 Plus, the Fold represents a new category that makes it phone and tablet in one. If Samsung wants to position the Fold as a "luxury" device, it will need to make buyers feel like they're part of an exclusive club with accelerated customer service, free upgrades, gifts and sneak peeks. After all, who doesn't love a good perk?
Buyers of high-end goods and services are already conditioned to expect giveaways, exclusive experiences and personalized attention. Take for example, owners of luxury cars who get a dedicated concierge service or free track instruction; winery members who are invited to private dinner pairings; and frequent fliers with airline status that gets them First Class upgrades and warm-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookies.
Galaxy Fold buyers need a little incentive.
Angela Lang/CNET
Samsung, and its carrier partners, should extend a version of that philosophy to bring buyers back on board. The Galaxy Fold has a delicate screen. If it breaks, will Samsung offer an immediate fix or repair and a loaner phone in the meantime? What about a dedicated customer service number to troubleshoot issues?
The Galaxy Fold comes with a case and a set of wireless Galaxy Buds in the box, but maybe Fold buyers should also get access to elite wallpapers, a mountain of Samsung Rewards points that can be redeemed for other items, or $20 free Samsung Pay credit.
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Paying $2,000 for a phone was already a lot to ask even before the Fold's screen issues turned early buyers into guinea pigs for emerging technology. Samsung should want to reduce buyers' skittishness, and work to hook their loyalty, by reducing the risk of ownership while also making it worth people's effort to go out on a limb for a product do-over.
Will perks make buyers come back? Maybe not the on-the-fence observers or industry watchers who prefer to wait for bendable glass screens or cheaper entry prices.
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But for the bleeding-edge early adopters for whom the Fold may not be an only phone, or those who are still committed to the foldable phone vision, knowing that Samsung is providing both a safety net and a carrot could make enough of a difference to give the Galaxy Fold a second chance.
Garmin has been slowly updating its smartwatches and fitness trackers over the past few years, and 2019 appears to be the year of the Forerunner. Today, Garmin announced three new types of Forerunner smartwatches—the Forerunner 45 and 45S, the Forerunner 245 and 245 Music, and the Forerunner 945—that will replace all but one of its existing Forerunner lineup. The remaining device is the $449 Forerunner 645 Music, which came out about one year ago and was the first of Garmin's wearables to have onboard music storage.
The new devices that make up the new lineup have slightly new designs and many new features. However, Garmin's naming system doesn't really help differentiate one smartwatch from another, so we'll break down the devices here. The most affordable of the bunch are the Forerunner 45 and 45S, both of which start at $199. The "S" signifies a smaller case size, so users can choose between the 42mm Forerunner 45 or the 39mm Forerunner 45S.
Garmin says these are designed for newbie runners or those starting a new exercise plan, and that thinking likely led to its affordable price tag and its array of features. Like most Garmin smartwatches, the Forerunner 45 and 45S track all-day activity and sleep, deliver smartphone alerts to your wrist, and are easy on the eyes thanks to an always-on, sunlight-friendly display. Even though the Forerunner 45 watches are the most affordable of the bunch, they still have a heart-rate monitor and built-in GPS, so users can make outdoor runs without the help of a smartphone.
Other workout profiles are available on the watches as well, like elliptical and yoga, and it will calculate Garmin's Body Battery score, which tells you how to plan workouts and rest periods based on your current lifestyle. Both the Forerunner 45 and 45S should last one week on a single charge when in smartwatch mode and up to 13 hours in GPS mode.
If you take everything the Forerunner 45 watches can do and add music storage, pulse ox, and running dynamics tracking, you get the Forerunner 245 and 245 Music (which start at $299 and $349, respectively). This device is designed for runners who have a bit more miles under their belts but aren't training for triathlons yet. The 245 Music can hold up to 500 songs from various partner platforms including Spotify, Pandora, and Deezer, as well as a user's personal tracks. The sensors inside the Forerunner 245 watches will measure VO2 max, aerobic and anaerobic training effects, and pulse ox, or how your body absorbs oxygen into the blood.
It can also connect to external sensors like a running dynamics pod and heart-rate chest straps to capture more running data while you train. The Forerunner 245 watches have the same one-week battery life as the Forerunner 45 watches do when in smartwatch mode, but they'll last up to 24 hours in GPS mode or six hours when using GPS and music playback simultaneously.
Garmin's new menstrual-tracking features in the Connect mobile app.
The $599 Forerunner 945 can do everything the Forerunner 245 Music can do and more. It can hold up to 1,000 songs and will have even more onboard workout profiles to track, including skiing, hiking, golfing, and others. The 945 will also have NFC for Garmin Pay, so users can pay for coffee, groceries, and other things on their way home from a run without having their wallets.
Garmin added a new metric to this watch as well—dubbed training load focus, it will sort your recent activity into different training categories based on the structure and intensity of those activities. In addition to full-color, on-screen maps and trackable metrics that will please triathletes, the Forerunner 945 should last up to two weeks in smartwatch mode, 36 hours in GPS mode, or 10 hours when using GPS and music playback together.
The Forerunner family had six devices before and will continue to have six devices with this revamp, but the new smartwatches have modern designs that will appeal to fans of the Vivoactive series. They also fall more neatly into the categories listed on Garmin's website: teammate, mentor, and expert. It's possible that more runners will want to give the Forerunner series a try now, and more users will consider the series now that it's better designed and that all of Garmin's newest wearable features are represented across the board.
In addition to new devices, Garmin announced a big change coming to the Garmin Connect mobile app—female health tracking. Now, female users can input menstrual cycle and symptom information into a dedicated section of the Connect mobile app to track their cycles. I haven't gotten a chance to test out the new features yet, but screenshots provided by Garmin show a menstrual-cycle tracker similar to Fitbit's and that of dedicated female health-tracking apps. Garmin's technology will also provide training and nutritional suggestions based on the information users provide, and those with a Garmin wearable can get cycle information and tracking reminder alerts on their wrists if they please.
Fitbit introduced female health tracking into its mobile app last year—while Fitbit's app has always been more user-friendly than Garmin Connect, the addition of female health tracking made it that much more inclusive. Now that Garmin has a similar feature, female users have more options when it comes to smartwatches and fitness trackers that have companion apps in which they can track all different aspects of their health.
Menstrual-cycle tracking will be available in the Garmin Connect app soon via an update. The Forerunner 45 and 45S will be available in May, while the Forerunner 245, Forerunner 245 Music, and the Forerunner 945 are available today on Garmin's website. Keep an eye out on Ars for Forerunner smartwatch reviews in the coming weeks.
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