Google unveils new Nexus phones, Pixel C tablet

Google is launching major updates for the Nexus phone, Pixel line, and its widely-used Android operating system, the company announced on Tuesday.

Nexus 5X

Let’s start with updates to the Nexus line of phones. The 5X, made by LG, is now the flagship phone and touts specs that should satisfy consumers looking for a sub-$400 Nexus phone. That includes a 5.2-inch 1080p (1,920 x 1,080) display with Gorilla Glass 3, 12-megapixel camera with “massive” pixels for higher-quality photos, 4K video recording and a USB Type-C charging connector. The new USB connector – which is much smaller than a typical USB connector and much easier to plug in – is being adopted for a host of new devices including the 12-inch Retina MacBook and new Chromebook Pixel. The Nexus 5X ships with Android 6.0 Marshmallow starts at $379 and preorders begin immediately with shipments later in October.

Nexus 6P

This is Google’s top-of-the-line phone and is the first all-metal-body (using aeronautical-grade aluminum) Nexus phone and was built “in collaboration” with Huawei, according to Google. Its 5.7-inch screen fits into a chassis about the size of the iPhone 6s Plus. Since the iPhone 6s Plus has a smaller 5.5-inch screen, Google is claiming a more efficient physical design. That screen is a WQHD (2,560 x 1,440) based on AMOLED technology. For those keeping track, Samsung is best known for its stunning AMOLED displays on its Galaxy line of phones. Apple opts for cutting-edge LCD displays. Like the Nexus 5X, it also has a USB Type-C port for fast charging and a 12.3 MP camera. Other salient specs include a speedy Qualcomm 64-bit processor, 3GB of RAM, and Android 6.0 Marshmallow.  It starts at $499 with 32GB of storage and shipments will begin in October. 

Review: 'Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze' is all kinds of awesome

When Nintendo announced “Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze” in June 2013, the Internet reaction was overwhelmingly negative. Many gamers had been hoping for a Metroid game to be announced, and were consequently disappointed with what they saw as a very uninspired looking sequel to the successful “Donkey Kong Country Returns” released on the Wii and Nintendo 3DS.

Boy were they wrong.

Not only could “Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze” be the best game for the Wii U in 2014, it may be the best Wii U game to date.

I was cynical myself at first; it felt like the “Donkey Kong Country” series was running on borrowed time. Nintendo revamped the 1994 classic “Donkey Kong Country” for the Wii in 2010, and then fired it out again for the 3DS in 2013. Surely, another game wasn’t needed so quickly?

Yet “Tropical Freeze” is no cash-in, far from it. Instead it is a legitimate, and extremely high quality entry into a great series.

In the game, mysterious anthropomorphic Viking animals invade Donkey Kong’s homeland, and freeze it over while sending Kong and co. off to a faraway island. The gang must travel across the various islands to get back home and dispel their conquerors ... and get bananas.

Ok, the story is the game’s weak point. But the gameplay is where “Tropical Freeze” shines. While it bears the similar structure of the series, Freeze brings in a whole new set of features including platforming, mine-cart levels and more.

Review: With the new Apple iPad Air, size now matters

Until now, size wasn't the deciding factor between the full-size Apple iPad Air and the iPad mini. There were marked differences between the two such as size, weight, speed and quality of display.

But the latest generation of tablets from Apple -- the iPad Air goes on sale this Friday, the Mini shortly thereafter -- are both best in class: same speed, same camera same ultrahigh definition Retina display. So when you're deciding between the two … size makes all the difference.

In my house, the kids are the real gadget testers. Since they take over any tablet or phone I bring home, we joined forces to put the new Air through the Morris Family paces for the last week.

In my house, the kids are the real gadget testers.

At 1 pound, the new iPad Air is impressively light, barely heavier than the iPad mini. My toddler can waddle around the house with it a lot more easily, and I can now use it in bed without worrying that it will smack me in the forehead if I doze off while reading Frank Miller’s "The Dark Knight Returns." Which has been known to happen with the previous generation iPad.

It’s hard to believe Apple managed to shave nearly a half-pound off last year’s fourth-generation iPad while still maintaining exceptional battery life, which in my all-day usage rarely dropped below 30 percent.

Battery life is an important feature in my house. My children like to play Wood Puzzles HD and then leave the game on for the music as background noise while they play. And I leave the house at 3:30 a.m. for FOX & Friends, iPad in tow, so I need it to last me all day. Like previous generations, the Air does just fine on this count.

Yet the Air is now a lot thinner -- 20 percent thinner than the previous generation, to be exact. It's great for travel in my own backpack, as well as in the diaper bag. You barely notice it’s there.

The Retina display does not fail to impress. I found it all the more impressive given my recent Lasik eye surgery. The screen resolution is crystal clear. Apple reduced the bezel around the sides to give the appearance of more "screen" even though the viewing area remains the same as last year’s iPad.

'Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' coming to mobile devices

The game Hillary Clinton sought to ban is back, and coming to a cell phone near you.

On the back of this year’s controversial “Grand Theft Auto V,” developer Rockstar announced Tuesday that the 2004 classic “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” is coming to mobile devices this December.

Both 2001’s “Grand Theft Auto III” and 2002’s “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City” have been translated to mobile devices and sold well, so a port of “San Andreas” was inevitable. Yet this is one of Rockstar’s most ambitious moves yet: “San Andreas” was unrivalled in scope, size, and things to do. It will be comfortably one of the biggest games for mobile ever released.

Gamers loved the expansive map that could take hours to travel across, with varied missions in the rough suburbs of Los Santos and wild countryside to explore. Oh, and it had Samuel L. Jackson as a voice actor – amazing.

If you aren't an adult, the game is not intended for you. 'Grand Theft Bambi' this is not.

“San Andreas” also garnered a praise for its sensitive handling of race and gang issues. The gamer played young black gang member Carl “C.J.” Johnson struggling to shake off his past and make a life for himself outside of the world into which he was born. In trying to break free, C.J. ends up entrenched further in criminality. Characters broke free of tiresome stereotypes, and critics praised it for making a black character the lead.

Review: 'Dragon’s Crown' game a rough diamond

The best type of video games are those that ease you in gently, disguised as a casual experience that you sit down to play for twenty minutes. Suddenly, it’s five hours later and you need another Red Bull, but only after you complete just one more quest.

“Dragon’s Crown” is that sort of game.

The new side-scrolling beat-em-up takes its cues from classics such as the 1991 Sega Genesis title “Streets of Rage” and 1990’s arcade hit “Golden Axe,” and throws in addictive role-playing qualities found in more recent titles such as Blizzard’s time-sucking MMORPG “World of Warcraft.”

“Dragon’s Crown” takes place in the fantasy world of Hydeland. The player takes control of a stock character, such as a fighter, sorceress or a dwarf, and sets off in search of fame and fortune in the form of the titular dragon’s crown. The magical crown, we are told, has been lost and without it, the picturesque world in which your character resides is threatened by trauma, tragedy and of course, big scaly dragons.

It is therefore up to you to save the world.

And what a beautiful world it is. Hydeland drips with color and stunning exceptional character designs. Accompanied by a quality soundtrack that could have been lifted right out of “The Lord of the Rings,” “Dragon’s Crown” is a game that oozes quality.

Researchers ‘delighted’ with results of iPhone Asthma Health app

Six months after unveiling an asthma research app that harnesses the power of Apple’s iPhone, experts at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York are thrilled with the study's early results.

“We are delighted with the initial results we’ve seen after six months of using Apple’s ResearchKit framework for our Asthma Health app,” said Eric Schadt, professor of genomics at the Icahn School of Medicine, in a press release. “We recruited and enrolled over 8,600 research participants in our study, remotely via the Asthma Health app without direct, in-person, contact.”

Related: Asthma Health app harnesses the power of Apple’s iPhone

Jointly developed with LifeMap Solutions, the app uses Apple’s ResearchKit open source software framework, and aims to make it easy for asthma sufferers to participate in research studies via their iPhones.

The Asthma Health App also taps into Apple’s Health Kit, a tool for developers that lets health and fitness apps work together. When granted permission by the user, the Asthma Health app accesses data from Health Kit to track, for example, asthma inhaler use measured by third-party devices and apps. It can also take advantage of the iPhone’s features such as GPS sensors to gather other relevant health data.

The app broke the geographic barrier that typically limits traditional research to the local area of a university or medical center, according to a spokesman for the Icahn School of Medicine. “For our study, 87 percent of participants live outside of NY and NJ,” he told FoxNews.com, in an email. 

Instagram clobbers Twitter as it surpasses the 400 million mark

It's a bit of a chicken or the egg dilemma -- are we such a visual generation because of all the photography and photosharing apps available to us, or do these technologies exist because of our penchant for showing rather than telling? Either way, Instagram doesn't care, as the wildly popular editing and sharing app recently surpassed 400 million users, which is 80 million more than Twitter. Yikes. Much of this growth has taken place in the last nine months alone, when 100 million new Instagrammers joined the platform. So not only is Instagram growing, it's growing really, really quickly.

Much of this latest spike in user numbers comes from Instagram's concerted internationalization efforts. In a blog post announcing the milestone, the app noted, "Our community has evolved to be even more global, with more than 75 percent living outside of the U.S…Among the last 100 million to join, more than half live in Europe and Asia. The countries that added the most Instagrammers include Brazil, Japan and Indonesia." At only five years old, Instagram's rapid expansion has been consistently impressive, validating Facebook's decision to spend $1 billion acquiring it just 18 months after its launch.

Related: These Instagrammers are so good Getty just gave them $10K each

Particularly promising is Instagram's appeal to younger demographics. Whereas parent company Facebook seems to be losing its popularity among teens, Instagram has no such problem, especially with younger reality shows (thanks, Kardashian-Jenner clan) making frequent use of the app. Snapchat, another highly visual platform, has also reported strong numbers, though nothing quite as impressive as Instagram (yet).

In spite of the notable marker, Papa Zuckerberg remains rather unimpressed. He's previously noted that "he doesn't think about a service as a real business until it gets to a billion users," which means that Facebook was apparently nothing more than a sneeze for the first several years of its existence, but hey -- baby steps, right? In any case, congratulations Instagram! May you continue making our lives look cooler than they are.