Weekend Wrap-up: Wii U price drop, Galaxy Gear to be unveiled Sept. 4
Thanks for dropping by for the Weekend Wrap-up, where we help you catch up on the top stories from the past week. It was a big week for gadgets, with Nintendo, Samsung and Google making headlines. Yahoo also snuck in this week with some news of its own.
Wii have changed our minds
Yes, I will use up every remaining Wii/Wii U pun in existence writing these headings. Nintendo has backtracked on its proclamation that a Wii U price drop would not be happening in the near future, cutting the price of the Deluxe model by $50. That system will now cost $299, a bit more competitive when compared to the PS4 at $399. Along with the Wii U price drop, Nintendo also announced the bizarre Nintendo 2DS, which is a 2D version of its popular 3DS portable… except it looks more like a tablet. You have to see it for yourself.
This Galaxy is not far, far away
It’s mere days away from us, actually. Samsung’s highly anticipated Galaxy Gear smartwatch will be unveiled on Sept. 4, which is this Wednesday. In addition to the Galaxy Gear unveiling, Samsung will also show off the Galaxy Note 3 for the first time. The way we learned of this news was not some marvelous work of investigative journalism or an unintentional leak from inside the company. A Samsung executive just decided to tell a Korean magazine that the Galaxy Gear and Galaxy Note 3 would be shown off on Sept. 4. Feels underwhelming, doesn’t it?
Acquired on a WIMM
Speaking of smartwatches, it looks like Google might be getting into the game officially. The company acquired WIMM Labs, which builds Android smartwatches. I’m sure the stuff going on at WIMM is not anything Google couldn’t do with the talent it already has in place, but the time Google won’t have to spend on R&D means that it can get a product out much more quickly. Google was essentially buying WIMM’s progress in the space thus far. We’ll keep an eye on things and let you know if we hear more about Google’s smartwatch.
Yahoo handles handles
Yahoo may have found a way to reclaim its older usernames and make people interested in using its services again. If a user hasn’t logged in for a while, they will have their username taken away from them. Using Yahoo’s new WatchList feature, which costs $1.99 for up to five usernames, you can keep an eye on your preferred handles and automatically be alerted when one becomes available. It’s a useful tool for snagging that Yahoo username you weren’t able to register 10-15 years ago.
That’s all for this week. Be sure to check in again next Sunday for another edition of the Wrap-up.