Hands-on with Android P—Is this the beginning of a new design language?

Android P Developer Preview is out this week, and the whole Android community is combing through it looking for changes. When Android P is released later this year, it will bring an all-new notification panel, new settings, official notch support, and a ton of other tiny changes. We already did a rundown of the features […]

Hands-on: Samsung’s new flagship Galaxy phone feels a lot like the old one (SSNLF)

Edoardo Maggio/Business Insider Samsung has officially unveiled its newest flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+. Business Insider attended the company’s press conference in Barcelona, and got some time to spend hands-on with both devices. The S9 and S9+ will go on sale March 16, but customers will be able to pre-order it this […]

Brass Tactics hands-on: Scaled-down VR strategy game remains challenging

Brass Tactics Arena, the free-to-play spin-off of Brass Tactics, has launched on Oculus Home for the Oculus Rift with Touch, and UploadVR got the chance to go hands-on with it prior to its release for some updated thoughts. We’ve tried Brass Tactics in the past a few times and got to learn how the team at Hidden […]

Rainbow Six Siege Operation Chimera hands-on — 25 million players get new ways to die

Ubisoft is taking the wraps off of its Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege expansion, dubbed Operation Chimera. That could very well get the game’s 25 million fans re-engaged with the 5-versus-5 tactical shooter multiplayer game. I got a good look at Operation Chimera this week at a preview event, and Ubisoft is showing it off […]

Maestro glove hands-on: Facebook, HTC should take note of Contact CI’s haptics

Everyone does it the first time they try VR. It doesn’t matter if it’s a static 360 image, a passive 360 video, an immersive VR experience, or a fast-paced VR game, everyone reaches out with their hands in an attempt to touch the virtual world. This happens a lot on the Samsung Gear VR with […]

Pimax 8K VR headset hands-on: Stunning visuals have some nagging issues

Other than the move toward wireless VR and an obsession with developing groundbreaking new haptic technologies, the biggest trend at CES this year for virtual reality was a focus on improved resolutions for HMD displays. From the Vive Pro’s purported “3K” combined resolution and the crisp, clear quality of Samsung’s Odyssey headset, all the way […]

Tales of Glory hands-on: Swingin’ and slayin’ with swords and spears in VR

Two of my favorite PC games are Chivalry: Medieval Warfare and Mount & Blade (both Warband and the original), so consider me excited when I saw Tales of Glory for the first time. With a heavy focus on first-person melee combat among an assortment of knights wielding weapons like pikes and swords and spears, it looks like the recipe for […]

Virtual sheep for virtual wood? Hands-on with Catan VR

Enlarge / Welcome to the hunting lodge… (credit: Asmodee Digital) Welcome to Ars Cardboard, our weekend look at tabletop games! Check out our complete board gaming coverage at cardboard.arstechnica.com. I admit to a fair amount of skepticism when it comes to most virtual reality applications; I remember hearing how VR was the Next Big Thing […]

Star Wars Jedi Challenges hands-on — wielding a lightsaber in augmented reality

Disney wants you to be immersed in Star Wars this fall as The Last Jedi film comes out in December. And one of the ways it is doing that is with Star Wars: Jedi Challenges, an augmented reality headset that makes you feel like a Jedi. I tried it out in a hands-on demo, and […]