Geek News

To date, Garmin's golf tracking wearables have been aimed at experienced players, with the higher prices to match. Even the Approach X40 isn't a trivial purchase. But what if you're relatively new? Enter the Approach X10: the new model gives you data for 41,000 courses at a $200 price that's easier to swallow for someone just starting to refine their game. You still get GPS positioning, a 1-inch touchscreen and connectivity with the Garmin Golf app to compete with friends. The main sacrifice is the absence of support for a TruSwing club sensor, so you'll need to step up to pricier gear if you want to perfect your swing. The band is water-resistant to 5 ATM in case you get caught out in the rain, and it'll easily last a full round with 12 hours of battery life when GPS is active. The X10 should be available before January is over, or just in time for that mid-winter golf vacation. Source: Garmin via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2n4svPi"

Philips' team-up with Razer is just the start of Hue-to-PC syncing. The lighting behemoth is preparing to launch a Hue Sync app that will let you sync games, movies and music on any Windows 10 PC or High Sierra-equipped Mac. While the exact functionality is under wraps, it's easy to imagine turning the room blood red when you play death metal, or dimming the lights when you settle in for a Netflix marathon. The app is due sometime in the second quarter of the year and will launch alongside a version 3.0 Hue app for Android and iOS. The mobile overhaul promises to simplify light groups, offer quick access to recently used scenes and provide "seamless setup." If you dislike the existing Hue app enough that you stick to the third-party options (such as the Apple and Google Home apps), it might be worth a revisit in the spring. To top things off, there's new hardware on the way.. eventually. Philips has teased the launch of outdoor Hue lights (shown above) in th...

Don't think it's enough to have Amazon Alexa in your car ? Garmin thinks it has a better proposition: throw in a dash cam. Its new Speak Plus includes the same voice assistant that offers directions, music playback and other hands-free controls, but it also tucks in a camera that can both record "incidents" (read: collisions) and deliver alerts. It'll warn you if you're too close to a car, if you're drifting out of your lane or if that gridlocked traffic has finally started moving. The Plus continues to pair with your smartphone to get online, and can use either Bluetooth or an aux cable to pipe music to your car's audio system. An OLED screen provides basic navigation details so you don't miss a turn. Not surprisingly, the addition of the camera raises the price. The Speak Plus will sell for $230 when it ships on January 22nd ($200 if you pre-order by January 20th), or well over the $150 for the original Speak. However, it might make more sens...

Yes, you can listen to music on a smartwatch without keeping your phone nearby, but that usually means settling for relatively simple fitness tracking. Garmin may have a solution that eliminates those compromises, however -- it just introduced the Forerunner 645 Music, a GPS running watch that (surprise) stores up to 500 songs for playback over Bluetooth earphones. You can track your runs (or bike rides, or swims) and the detailed stats to match while listening to tunes you've saved either from your computer or from streaming services like iHeartRadio. The watch is an upgrade in the style department as well. It's the first Forerunner with a steel bezel, so it looks more at home on your wrist when you're not in the middle of a half-marathon. You'll also get Garmin Pay (to buy that post-workout drink), an always-on color display and support for a Running Dynamics Pod that tracks stats like cadence and stride length. The battery will last up to a week in a regular sm...