Fully Charged: Acer makes tablet-toting Selfie-Hat, Channel 4 replacing 4oD, and Resident Evil Revelations 2 goes episodic
Start powering through to the weekend with our morning tech news roundup
Acer’s selfie sombrero is a garish vision of techno-couture
Ready to prove your love of selfies? Acer has seemingly prepared a loyalty test in the form of the Acer x Christian Cowan-Sanluis Selfie-Hat, a device-housing pink nightmare of an accessory designed in collaboration with the 20-year-old fashion student who’s worked with Lady Gaga and Rita Ora.
However, the handheld device mounted to this garish hat isn’t a standard smartphone or even a phablet, but rather a full-on tablet: an 8in Acer Iconia A-1 840, in fact. If folks snapping photos in public with tablets wasn’t nauseating enough, just wait until they’re wearing a neon sequined hat with the thing permanently affixed.
The hat spins 360 degrees, letting you get the best angle – or just look utterly crazed on the street. And if you don’t want a hat for yourself, but simply one for your tablet to wear, well you’re in luck: Acer and Cowan-Sanluis made 10 matching cases with little tablet hats. Really.
Much as this might all seem like a gag, it’s apparently a real thing – but you can only purchase it via an appointment and consultation with Cowan-Sanluis in central London. It’ll also be available today at the designer’s London Fashion Week showing.
READ MORE: Sony Gina smartphone’s front flash makes it the ultimate selfie taker
Channel 4 replacing 4oD with All 4
Channel 4 pioneered the on-demand catch-up service several years ago, and now it’s high time for a significant refresh and update. That’ll come in the first quarter of 2015, as the network has announced plans to scrap the current 4oD service in favor of a new unified option called All 4.
All 4 will bring together all of Channel 4’s brands in one app for various platforms (launching on iOS and PC first), letting you pick between On Demand, Now (live TV streams), and On Soon (trailers and other previews) menus to sort through the content. Additional bonus content for shows will also be bundled into the app experience, and those with Channel 4 accounts will have videos personally targetted to boot.
[Source: Channel 4 via Pocket-lint and Engadget]
READ MORE: Roku Streaming Stick review
Resident Evil Revelations 2 takes episodic approach
So here’s a surprising new tactic for the Resident Evil horror gaming franchise: weekly downloadable episodes that combine to create one larger storyline. That’s the plan with the upcoming Resident Evil Revelations 2, which was announced last week for Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.
Due out early next year, the game features different lead characters than the original 3DS and console entry, with past heroine Claire Redfield joined by newly playable Moira Burton, the daughter of the infamous Barry Burton from earlier games. You can get a first look at in-game action in the above trailer.
The game will be split into four weekly episodes for US$5.99 (about £3.69) apiece, or you can pay US$24.99 (just over £15) for the whole package. Or simply wait until it all hits retail in a single bundle and potentially play a more expansive version of the game.
[Source: Capcom Unity]
Andrew Hayward
Freelance Writer 
