Casio's WSD-F10 rugged Android Wear smartwatch will be released on March 25

Back in January at CES Casio unveiled a new smartwatch running Android Wear. The WSD-F10 is being called a Smart Outdoor Watch by its maker, and its ruggedness certainly allows Casio to go with that moniker.

See, this device is water resistant up to 50 meters, and it's tested to military standard specifications to ensure it can withstand many rugged activities. And today Casio announced its release date as well as how much it will cost.

The Smart Outdoor Watch WSD-F10 will be out on March 25 for $500. You'll be able to purchase one from Casio's online store, Amazon, the Google Store, or REI - in red, green, black, or orange.

It sports a 1.32-inch 320x300 dual layer LCD touchscreen, which can switch from color to monochrome to boost battery life. Speaking of which, Casio claims the watch will get you through one day of normal use and should last more than a month in the battery-saving Timepiece mode.

Michael Kors gets into the smartwatch game with an Android Wear offering

The latest brand to enter the rapidly crowding smartwatch fray is Michael Kors. The fashion company has announced the Michael Kors Access today at Baselworld. This will be its first ever smartwatch, launching at some point "this fall" with Android Wear on board.

The watch will be offered in many different iterations, two of which you can see in the pictures below. It will have exclusive Michael Kors watch faces, interchangeable leather and silicone wristbands, as well as "glamorous versions for women and sporty versions for men", according to the official press release.

The Access wearable will start at $395, and unfortunately those are all the details that we have about it right now. Then again, that probably makes sense considering its launch is many months away still. So we have no specs to speak of at this point, though a 'flat tire' like design stands out for the watch's screen - something that is reminiscent of Motorola's 360.

Samsung Galaxy TabPro S with Windows 10 is out in the US tomorrow for $899.99

Samsung announced the Galaxy TabPro S tablet running Windows 10 at CES in January, and we've already seen it going on sale throughout Europe at the beginning of this month. And now it's finally time for it to become available in the US as well. Almost, anyway.

It's set to be in stock at Best Buy starting tomorrow, priced from $899.99. It will also be offered by Microsoft stores beginning on April 4.

The TabPro S is a 12-inch 2-in-1 detachable tablet with a 1440p AMOLED touchscreen, a sixth generation Intel Core M dual-core processor clocked at 2.26 GHz, 4GB of RAM, two 5 MP cameras (one on the front, one on the back), and a 5,200 mAh battery. It's just 6.3mm thin and it weighs 693g.

It has two storage options, 128GB and 256GB, and there are versions that also get LTE Cat.6 connectivity built-in. It runs either Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro, depending on which particular SKU you choose. The keyboard comes bundled with the tablet, so there's no need for a separate purchase here.

Sony is still making a profit on each PlayStation VR unit, even at the $399 price poin

A couple of days ago Sony finally announced the official pricing for its upcoming PlayStation VR headset. And, at $399 (or £349 in the UK), it turns out it's actually cheaper than many have anticipated. It surely is much more so than some rumors have claimed - the $1,500 figure was thrown around a lot at one point, while a retailer leak made us think about $500 as an option too.

So, understandably, many have been worried that Sony will be making a loss for each PlayStation VR unit sold, somewhat akin to what the situation was when the PlayStation 4 console launched. However, the Japanese company just wants everyone to relax.

According to Shuhei Yoshida, head of Sony Worldwide Studios, the company is not going to lose any money selling the VR headset. It's probably not making a handsome profit on it either, but it will be enough to "invest in promotion, doing trials, developer support", the exec said.

Apparently Sony's expertise in creating hardware helped cut costs a lot, but not at the expense of the overall experience. "Especially because virtual reality is so new, we wanted to do it right first time. We waited until we could use cutting edge tech like 120Hz OLED displays - that doesn't exist anywhere, we custom made it for PS VR", Shuhei Yoshida went on to say.

The PlayStation VR will become available in October, along with around 50 games supporting it.

Microsoft officially starts Windows 10 Mobile rollout for older devices

The big day has finally come, as rumored mere hours ago. It's not a development version anymore, it's not a beta, it's not a test rollout, it's not meant for Windows Insiders only, it's the real deal. Microsoft has just announced the start of the rollout of Windows 10 Mobile to older smartphones that are currently on Windows Phone 8.1. Needless to say, this has been many months in the making, and from this point on updates should be hitting phones left and right.

The update is headed to these smartphones, though each one may get it on a different date (and where Microsoft/Nokia isn't the manufacturer, things are up to that particular company when it comes to timing): Lumia 1520, 930, 640, 640XL, 730, 735, 830, 532, 535, 540, 635 1GB, 636 1GB, 638 1GB, 430, 435, BLU Win HD w510u, BLU Win HD LTE x150q, MCJ Madosma Q501.

Unlike what usually happens with over-the-air releases, there is something you need to do to ensure you get Windows 10 on your device (if it's one of the above, of course). That is to download Microsoft's UpdateAdvisor app from the Windows store. This will confirm that the update is on its way. Once you open it and it does that, make sure you check the "Enable Windows 10 upgrade" option and tap on Next. Then when it says it's ready to upgrade, just tap Done.

Only after you've gone through this procedure does it make sense for you to go to Settings > Phone Update and check for updates. If you've completed all the aforementioned steps, then you'll receive a notification once the OTA has reached your particular handset. If you have a Lumia the new software will probably arrive sooner than if you carry another brand, but nothing's 100% certain in this regard. One thing is clear, though - Windows 10 Mobile is finally on its way to a smartphone near you.

Windows 10-powered Microsoft Lumia 550 now selling for $120 in US

The Microsoft Lumia 550 has received a price cut in the United States, where it is now being sold for as low as $119.95. Electronics retailer B&H photo is selling the Windows 10 device at that price.

What's worth mentioning here is that the $120 price is only for the white-colored variant of the handset - the black version is listed on B&H Photo's website for $129.95, which is still $9 less than the device's usual price.

A quick look at Microsoft's US online store reveals that the Redmond, Washington-based company is also selling the device for $139. As for B&H's promo, the retailer just says that there's limited supply at this price.

In case you missed, the device also recently received a price cut in the UK.

Nextbit cancels CDMA version of its cloud-focused Robin smartphone

Waiting for the US CDMA version of the Nextbit Robin "cloud phone?" Well, there is some bad news: the variant has been cancelled. This means that those hoping to use the Robin on Verizon or Sprint's network are now out of luck.

"We are unable to ship a CDMA version," said Nextbit's CEO Tom Moss in a post on the San Francisco-based company's official website. He also explained in detail the reason behind the decision. Here is what he said:

As you can imagine, we were in a rush. The Kickstarter campaign is only 30 days long, and it wasn’t until the second week of the campaign that we realized the demand and started the investigation. Because of this, we had to go with the best information we could get before the campaign was over, and over time it turned out that this information was not accurate. What people at the carriers, in good faith given our need for quick answers, thought would take “weeks” has turned into “months”. What they thought would cost “hundreds of thousands of dollars” has turned into “millions”. And we’re still not there. The goal posts are still being moved, and at this point, we think it is better to cancel this version rather than continue to try and make progress with no clear answers to offer regarding when we would actually be able to ship.

We first realized there was a big delta between what we originally thought and reality in January. It should have been sooner but to be honest a big part of the problem is how long it takes just to get the right information (and in some cases, what we were doing was a “one-off” for the carriers and they didn’t even decide themselves yet how it would be treated until as late as a week ago). Even then, we believed we could recover and launch in March. Then new information came up and it became April. We really thought that would be it, but yet again, we were wrong. We should have known better. We were not sufficiently doubtful of what we were told given everything we already knew from our experience at previous companies. We were too optimistic, too bullish, and as a result we have to deal with our biggest fear, disappointing you, our supporters. This is bad for you, and this is bad for us. The best we can do is send you this explanation with our sincerest apologies, and try to make sure you don’t suffer any financial loss in addition to the disappointment of not receiving a CDMA Robin.

All CDMA backers will get complete refund within the next 48 hours. In addition, they'll also get a 25% discount code which can be used with a purchase from the company's online store.

In case you aren't already aware, the GSM variant of the Nextbit Robin went on sale in February, and was sold out within a day.

Leaked Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) images show off its metal frame

Remember the Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)? If you can't put a face to that name, maybe these cache of images will help. They appear to be official images for the China Mobile version of the phone.

Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) in Gold

These images give us a great close-up of the corners of the J5, which are very similar to those of the more premium Galaxy A (2016) lineup. A leaked manual already pointed to a metal frame, but here's more proof if you needed it.

A notch on the back cover (visible in the side shot) suggests the back will be removable. It also has a slight brushed metal texture. Two color options are shown - White and Gold.

Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) in White

Additional specs (obtained from the GFX Bench database) point to a 5.2" screen with 720p resolution, a Super AMOLED, plus a Snapdragon 410 chipset with 2GB of RAM. The phone ran Android 5.1.1 during the test and had 16GB of total storage. The Galaxy J5 (2016) will have a 13MP camera with 1080p video capture.

More Galaxy J5 (2016) images

4" iPhone to be called iPhone SE, to come with 16GB storage

You've seen Apple's upcoming 4" iPhone labeled as either 5se or just "SE," but an alleged photo of its retail box suggests the Apple-preferred name is "iPhone SE" (yes, with capital letters, despite going lower case with the iPhone 5s).

The box is also marked 16GB, suggesting that this remains the base storage option. Better than the 8GB iPhone 5c, we guess, and supposedly there will be a 64GB option (again, no 32GB middle ground).

The other kind of memory, RAM, will likely go back to 1GB after growing to 2GB with the 6s generation. The iPhone SE will still use the Apple A9 chipset, though, at least that's what we hear.

It goes without saying, but we'll say it anyway - these boxes are easy to fake. For 100% true info, tune in on Monday when Apple reveals the new 4-incher.

Yesterday's iPhone 7 closeup photo is actually of the upcoming Meizu Pro 6

Yesterday a set of leaked photos surfaced online and they claimed to show the upcoming iPhone 7 and its new antenna design. Today, in an odd twist of events, Li Nan, Vice President of Chinese manufacturer Meizu, made a clarification that the device featured in yesterday's close-up shot is actually the Meizu Pro 6.

The latter, of course, is yet to be unveiled, but in order to back his statement up, Li Nan provided a photo of the back of the device with a visible Meizu logo. We are not quite sure what to call the shot in question, as it is not exactly leaked, considering its source. The development is slightly odd, but we can sympathize with Meizu if the claims of lengthy development work on the company's part for the new antenna design are really true.

However, this whole story does not negate the fact we have seen a number of other traces, pointing to an almost identical antenna design on Cupertino's next handset. The second shot in yesterdays leak, for instance, clearly features an Apple logo on the device. And the same goes for an earlier batch of renders and a shot of what appear to be exact sketches on the back panel, as well as the alleged dual-camera module to go into the iPhone 7 Plus.

Overall, the situation is shaping up as yet another "who copied who" ordeal with Meizu already looking slightly desperate to stand its ground.

OnePlus starts soak testing OP2 Marshmallow update

For those OnePlus 2 owners who are desperately waiting for the Marshmallow update, here is some good news: the company has apparently started soak testing the Android 6.0-based Oxygen 3.0 update.

The soak test brings Android Marshmallow version 6.0.1 as well as some tweaks, including home-screen customizations, new wallpapers, and a slider for alerts.

This comes just a couple of weeks after the OxygenOS 2.2.1 update started rolling out - that update brought RAW support for the pre-installed OnePlus Camera app, among other changes.

There's currently no information on when the final OP2 Oxygen 3.0 update would roll out, although given that the soak test has already started, that shouldn't take too long.

Oppo R9 and R9 Plus official: 16MP front-facers on both

The Oppo R9 and R9 Plus were just officially announced in China. The smartphones share the same design language, but under the hood there are plenty of differences.

Oppo R9

The R9 is the smaller of the two, which doesn't at all mean it's actually small - it's a phablet with a FullHD AMOLED 5.5-inch display. Oppo is proud of its accomplishments in bezel size, citing a minimal 1.66mm on the sides, and the whole thing measures 151.8 x 74.3 x 6.6mm.

The R9 is powered by a Mediatek Helio P10 chipset with four of its Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 2.0GHz, the other four at 1.0GHz. 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage are on board and the R9 can take up to 128GB of microSD cards in the hybrid microSD/second-SIM slot.

It gets interesting in the camera department, where the front shooter actually boasts a higher-res sensor and brighter lens than the rear one. Selfies are taken care of by a 16MP imager mated with an f/2.0 lens with a 78.1-degree field of view. On the back you have a 13MP sensor behind a 5-element lens with f/2.2 aperture and 80.6-degree FoV.

Oppo R9 Plus

The R9 Plus ups the ante in several key areas. The obvious one, and the one meriting the Plus moniker, is screen size and the R9 Plus comes with a 6-inch display, again FullHD AMOLED. Side bezels are a smidgen wider at 1.76mm, but the screen-to-body ratio is still higher at 79.3% compared to 77.7% for the R9.

Running things is the Snapdragon 652 chipset with quad-core 1.8GHz Cortex-A72's and quad-core 1.2GHz Cortex-A53's. RAM is 4GB here as well, and base storage is 64GB, but there's also a 128GB version. In case you want to expand on that (just how much music and photos do you have?) there's a hybrid microSD/second-SIM slot as well.

There's a bit more logic in the camera setup on the R9 Plus, and while the front 16MP snapper is the same, on the back you get another 16MP camera as opposed to the R9's 13MP unit. This one uses the Sony IMX298 sensor (like on the Huawei Mate 8) with a 6-element f/2.0 lens. Thanks to the more powerful chipset the R9 Plus is capable of 4K video recording, unlike the regular R9.

Both smartphones have a fingerprint sensor on the front below the display, marking a departure from the rear-mounted solution on the R7 Plus. VOOC Flash Charge is present on the two (but not the crazy fast Super VOOC we saw at MWC), and the R9 has a 2,850 battery capacity, while the Plus stretches that to 4,120mAh. Another shared property, and one that doesn't sound too good, is the OS version - Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, when Android N previews are already out.

The Oppo R9 and R9 Plus both come with 4G LTE support, naturally. Wi-Fi 802.11 ac is only available on the R9 Plus, the R9 is limited to the slower standards. Another connectivity difference is Bluetooth - v4.0 on the R9, v4.1 on the R9 Plus (to better deal with interference with LTE frequencies).

The Oppo R9 is priced at CNY 2,799 in China ($430), and is available for pre-order now, with shipments scheduled to start on March 24. The R9 Plus is obviously costlier at CNY 3,299 ($510) for the 64GB version and will hit Chinese shelves on April 12. Global availability remains to be detailed.