Sony has announced version 7.00 of the PlayStation 4’s system software, which centers around updates to Remote Play and party functionality. The update will be available this week.
Remote Play will now let you stream games from your console to any Android device running version 5.0 or above. This has actually been a feature on certain Android phones since 2014, but only ones made by Sony — now there’ll just be a Remote Play app in the Play store for anyone to download. Sony added iOS compatibility earlier this year, so the expansion of Android support always seemed likely.
Meanwhile, the party chat feature has doubled the number of users from eight to 16 and should have better connectivity and audio quality, Sony says. There’s also a new voice-to-text feature that transcribes text and displays it on the PS4 Second Screen mobile app, though it’ll only be available in the US for now. Sony didn’t say whether the feature will come to other regions.
Sony has rolled out its latest Playstation 4 update, and as it teased earlier, it includes an improved Party function. You can now double up the number of participants to 16 from eight, making playing sessions more of a, well, party. On top of that, Sony has improved the feature's network connectivity and audio quality, while increasing accessibility with a new chat transcription feature. The latter converts all your Party chats to text, while text can be spoken by a robot on the PS4 Second Screen app.
Another big new feature on the PS4 system update 7.0 is Remote Play on all smartphones and tablets running Android version 5.0 or higher, and not just Sony Xperia devices. That means the feature is now on all major platforms, as iPhone and iPad devices got it earlier this year. Remote Play has also been updated for iOS devices "so you can now display the controller at all times and lock the screen orientation," said Sony in its blog post.
Furthermore, players can now use Dualshock 4 wireless controllers over Bluetooth on Android, iOS and Mac via new updates in Android 10, iOS 13, iPadOS 13 and macOS Catalina coming later this month, Sony noted. The update is arriving around the world this week, so you should see it on your console soon.
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Sony’s Remote Play app, allowing users to stream games from their PS4, has long been exclusive to Sony Xperia smartphones. Now, the company has announced that this is no longer the case.
“For those who want to stream select PS4 games on mobile devices, Remote Play can now be used on smartphones and tablets running Android 5.0 or higher,” the firm announced in a blog post. “Just download the PS4 Remote Play App from the Google Play store to use the feature.”
Sony has also confirmed that Dual Shock 4 controller support via Bluetooth is now available on Android 10 devices. Sony specifically says this is for Remote Play, suggesting that using a Dual Shock 4 for other Android apps isn’t fully supported yet (then again, it is a Bluetooth controller after all).
We tried to install the PS4 Remote Play app on the Samsung Galaxy S8, OnePlus 7T and Huawei Mate 20 Pro but the Play Store listing noted that our devices were incompatible. We’re guessing the error is because the update will be pushed out when the relevant PS4 update (version 7.00) is pushed out as well.
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In any case, Remote Play functionality was one of the few reasons to get a Sony Xperia smartphone. It’s unclear just how many people bought a Sony phone specifically to get this feature though, especially when enterprising people got it running on non-Sony phones.
It can also be seen as a response to Google Stadia, as Google’s game streaming service edges closer to its November launch. Sony has a game streaming platform of its own in PlayStation Now, and the service has recently seen a price cut from $19.99 a month to $9.99 a month.
Have you tried out PS4 Remote Play before? Give us your impressions in the comments below! You can also visit the Remote Play Play Store listing via the button below.
Instagram might finally let you make stories for your group. According to app researcher Jane Mancun Wong, the company is currently testing out this feature in one of the app’s test builds.
Screenshots posted in Wong’s tweet indicates once you snap a photo from the stories camera option, it’ll let you post it to your stories, stories visible to only close friends, and stories for a group. Plus, you’ll be able to create a new group and post your story there too.
This can be quite useful if you have groups with specific shared interests on Instagram. You can post stories related to that topic just to your group instead of sharing it with a wider range of people.
Last month, Facebook closed down its group stories feature just after nine months of its introduction. However, it can find a valuable place in a more photo-friendly platform.
At the moment, there’s no word on when this feature will be available for users. We’ll keep an eye out for you, and update you the moment it releases.
The days of Windows and Intel walking mostly in lockstep may be coming to an end. Two high-profile new PCs this year have been announced using Arm processors, similar to the ones that power modern smartphones. They join a small handful of Arm-plus-Windows machines from the past two years.
The Samsung Galaxy Book S claims to offer 23 hours of active battery life, while the Surface Pro X uses the phrase "all-day battery." If you look at the fine print, it reads, "Up to 13 hours of battery life based on typical Surface device usage."
Sarah Tew/CNET
The new 13-inch Surface Pro X uses a custom version of a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, called the SQ1 Arm chip. The X has slim bezels and is closer in size to a 12-inch device, and weighs just 1.68 pounds. Its stylus is a special slim version of the Surface Pen and fits into a charging dock in the keyboard cover. Yes, since it's a Surface, the keyboard and stylus are sold separately. Adding both will cost you an extra $269.
Read more about the Surface Pro X
Sarah Tew/CNET
The Galaxy Book S runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU, similar to the ones found in many phones, rather than a standard Intel CPU. This should allow very long battery life, even using an always-on 4G LTE connection. It has more of a traditional clamshell design, rather than being a 2-in-1 tablet. Sure, it's less flexible, but for the same $999 starting price, you won't have to buy an add-on keyboard.
Read our Samsung Galaxy Book preview
The first wave of Arm-powered laptops from a couple of years ago didn't especially impress us. Battery life in the Asus NovaGo and HP Envy x2 (both tested in 2018) ran about 12 hours each. Excellent, but not the 20-plus hours promised, and prices weren't low enough to offset that.
Rather than dropping prices, these new Snapdragon and SQ1 models from Samsung and Microsoft deliberately aim at a high-end audience, starting at $999. Below, we've compared the available specs for each of these not-yet-available systems.
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Samsung Galaxy Book S vs. LG Gram 15
Samsung Galaxy Book S
Microsoft Surface Pro X
Price (USD)
$999 (starting price)
$999 (starting price)
CPU
2.84GHz + 1.8GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx
3GHz Microsoft SQ1
RAM
8GB RAM DDR4
8GB or 16GB LPDDR4x
Display
13-inch 1,920x1,080 touch display
13-inch 2,880x1,920 touch display
Storage
256GB/512GB SSD
128GB/256GB/512GB SSD
Wi-Fi
802.11ac
802.11ac
Bluetooth
5.0
5.0
LTE
LTE Cat.18/Nano SIM
Qualcomm Snapdragon X24 LTE Modem Nano SIM
Battery
42Wh
Unknown
Battery life claim (hours:min)
"Up to 23 hours"
"Up to 13 hours"
The Surface Pro X and Galaxy Book S are both expected this fall.
