We've compiled a 'Top 10' list of our favorite iOS apps to hit the App Store in May 2017. The apps highlighted in this video include Google Assistant, Fidget Spinner, Audm, Starry, Fastlane: Road to Revenge, Blink, Punchline, Sleep Orbit, Hanx Writer, and Jeopardy: World Tour. Which app is your favorite?
Today’s the day that the BlackBerry KEYone officially arrives in the US.
The BlackBerry KEYone today launched at Amazon and Best Buy. There are two unlocked models of the KEYone: a GSM model for AT&T and T-Mobile and a CDMA model for Verizon. The former is being sold by Amazon and Best Buy, while the latter is only at Amazon for now. Pricing for the KEYone is $549.99.
Unfortunately, the KEYone is sold out at both Amazon and Best Buy as of this post. Steve Cistulli, president of TCL (who manufactures the KEYone), says that demand is “extremely high”. The good news is that TCL is working with its retail partners to refill stock of the KEYone ASAP.
If you’d like to keep an eye on the KEYone product pages for stock to be refilled, you can find the device at right here at Amazon and here at Best Buy.
It’s also worth noting that Sprint will sell the BlackBerry KEYone, too. That launch is planned for this summer.
The last time that we saw Microsoft announce a new flagship smartphone was the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL reveal back in October 2015. It doesn’t appear that that’s going to change any time soon, but a new leak is giving us a look at what a new Microsoft flagship could’ve looked like.
Images of what’s rumored to be a Lumia 950 successor have leaked. Reportedly codenamed Northstar, this “Lumia 960” is said to feature front-facing speakers, a Quad HD display, and a 20-megapixel PureView camera with triple LED flash. The device is also said to have an aluminum rear shell, and inside of it allegedly lives a Snapdragon 820 processor.
This device has been canceled by Microsoft, says Windows Central, but it’s still used inside the company as an engineering prototype for Windows 10 Mobile.
This Northstar phone could’ve made for a nice successor to the Lumia 950, offering an upgrade processor, front-facing speakers, and an aluminum design that would offer a premium look and feel. Since the phone has been given the axe, though, we’ll just have to settle for ogling it in leaked photos like these while we wait to see if those rumors of a Surface Phone come to fruition.
What do you think of this leaked Lumia 950 successor? Would you have considered buying it if it actually came to market?
The last time that we saw Microsoft announce a new flagship smartphone was the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL reveal back in October 2015. It doesn’t appear that that’s going to change any time soon, but a new leak is giving us a look at what a new Microsoft flagship could’ve looked like.
Images of what’s rumored to be a Lumia 950 successor have leaked. Reportedly codenamed Northstar, this “Lumia 960” is said to feature front-facing speakers, a Quad HD display, and a 20-megapixel PureView camera with triple LED flash. The device is also said to have an aluminum rear shell, and inside of it allegedly lives a Snapdragon 820 processor.
This device has been canceled by Microsoft, says Windows Central, but it’s still used inside the company as an engineering prototype for Windows 10 Mobile.
This Northstar phone could’ve made for a nice successor to the Lumia 950, offering an upgrade processor, front-facing speakers, and an aluminum design that would offer a premium look and feel. Since the phone has been given the axe, though, we’ll just have to settle for ogling it in leaked photos like these while we wait to see if those rumors of a Surface Phone come to fruition.
What do you think of this leaked Lumia 950 successor? Would you have considered buying it if it actually came to market?
It seems like Google hopes tickling your funnybone will keep its Allo chat app installed on your phone. The latest update adds selfie clips so you can add a personalized touch to your responses. Essentially, they're just looped GIFs made from a video of whatever's in front of your phone's camera. Allo's head of product Amit Fulay tweeted the info out earlier today, including the GIF below. In the thread, Fulay says that the update is available to all users. Now, it's worth noting that this sort of thing has been available via Giphy Cam before, but it being built directly into Allo (among the recent slew of updates) suggests that Google isn't giving up on its latest chat app just yet.
Source: Amit Fulay (Twitter), Google Play
Recent mobile headlines may have you pulling a Jumanji and frantically asking “What year is it?” as brands like BlackBerry and Nokia reveal some of their latest creations. The BlackBerry KEYone officially released today in the U.S. and Canada, but Nokia also announced via Twitter that their newest smartphones are slated to release “by the end of June”.
Nokia, once one of the biggest brands in mobile, fizzled out after opting to go with Windows Phone rather than Android, which ended up being bad news for Nokia, but oddly enough the Nokia brand was probably the only thing keeping Windows Phone afloat for as long as it did. Things went downhill when Microsoft acquired Nokia’s phone assets back in 2013 and streamlined the Nokia Lumia into the Microsoft Lumia. After licensing the handset brand from Microsoft and striking some deals with Google and Foxconn, Nokia reentered the smartphone market once again earlier this year with the Nokia 3, 5, and 6. All three devices range between low-end to mid-range, and Nokia has yet to unveil a true flagship.
Although unconfirmed, the hope is that will change by the end of June.
Nokia is one of the few companies that doesn’t appear to have many solid leaks regarding upcoming devices, and this latest Nokia device doesn’t seem to be any different. Names like Nokia P1, Nokia 8, and Nokia 9 have floated around for some time, but nothing seems concrete (with the exception of the Nokia 3310 reboot). As such, it can be fun to speculate what, exactly, Nokia’s next handset might be like.
Personally, I’m hoping for a touch of Nokia’s direction with Windows Phone. I distinctly remember thinking that its bright colors and plastic build was somewhat tacky, but after owning a couple myself, I absolutely fell in love with the look and feel of their Lumia line. Its bright and bold color scheme in a typical sea of black, white, and silver offerings was refreshing, and its “tanky” polycarbonate build may not have looked premium, but my Lumia devices were one of the select few smartphones I ever felt comfortable using without a case.
Nokia’s Lumias were also well-known for a couple of other traits, such as their excellent cameras with Carl Zeiss lenses and being among the first smartphones to support wireless charging, a feature that I still consider important if, for nothing else, to serve as a backup method of charging.
Aside from its notoriously tanky reputation, most of those revered features in the Nokia Lumia devices have since been adopted by other smartphones: more colors are offered now, although still typically not as bold, and wireless charging appears to be more common than not. Cameras are exceptionally competitive across the board for flagships. Despite those features becoming common, though, I still think there’s room for Nokia to make a name for itself once again in the smartphone space, even among highly competitive flagships, if that happens to be the case.
Honestly, I feel that Nokia has very little work to do to make its name stand out once again. A tanky and bold build is a given expectation, but outside of that, I feel that Nokia could succeed by adding these key features as well: long battery life, 3.5mm headphone jack, microSD support, bold colors, wireless charging, waterproofing, 4GB of RAM, and a competitive rear-facing camera. Additionally, I think people would absolutely flip their lid if Nokia brought back removable batteries, but considering the 3, 5, and 6 all feature non-removable batteries, I’m not holding my breath over that one.
I think Nokia would do best by making a more modest flagship with some sacrifices made to the processor and price tag, similar to the BlackBerry KEYone. I don’t think competing directly with Samsung and Apple at the moment would work well, but I think the brand’s reputation is still solid enough to make some headway, at least.
Of course, all of this is just speculation. I myself am pretty much sold on the BlackBerry KEYone as my next device if I decide to upgrade, but I would still love to see Nokia make a successful comeback.
Readers, what are your hopes for the next Nokia device? Are you holding out until the end of June to see what they come up with? Let us know in the comments below!
The smart speaker space is heating up, with Amazon and Google already on the market and Essential coming soon. And according to a new report, Apple will be joining the competition soon, too.
Apple has started production on a smart speaker powered by Siri and it could announce the device as soon as WWDC next week, say sources speaking to Bloomberg. However, the speaker may not be ready to ship to consumers until later in 2017.
Apple will reportedly focus on the speaker’s sound quality as a way to help it stand out from competition like Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Home. Apple’s device will reportedly offer virtual surround sound and advanced acoustics technologies, and the speakers that Apple is currently testing are said to be louder and crisper than competing products.
Other rumored features of this Apple smart speaker include integration with smart home devices that support Apple’s HomeKit, giving users control over lights, door locks and more. Apple may also let third-party services build products for its speaker.
If Apple is indeed planning to introduce its smart speaker at WWDC, it’s possible that the company hopes to launch the device at its annual fall iPhone event and give developers a few months’ time to build apps for it. As for the speaker itself, a focus on high-quality audio could be a good way to help it stand out. While the Amazon Echo and Google Home can play music, they aren’t considered to be high-quality speakers, so Apple could use improved sound quality as a differentiator since many folks use these speakers in places like the kitchen.
Does the Apple smart speaker described in today’s report interest you?
Facebook has picked up on the fact that everyone thinks its security settings are confusing. So, it has rolled out a redesign based on user research to bring some much-needed clarity to its security page.
Source: Facebook
Sling TV has updated its live, streaming TV app with a straightforward grid of channel listings in an attempt to simplify the viewing experience for users. “Believe it or not, following DVR, the grid guide has consistently been our most requested feature from Sling TV customers,” the company said in a blog post announcing the new feature, which it readily admits is far from revolution.
But in all honesty, it’s pretty easy to believe that customers have been asking for a traditional electronic programming guide (EPG) that’s similar to what you’d find on a basic cable box. Sling TV’s interface has always been under-developed and somewhat befuddling to subscribers. The Dish-owned company tried to address this with an overhauled user...
You have to sympathize with Android-loving Canadians. While Apple Pay has been available in the country since 2015, Android Pay has been a no-show -- you've had to pay for your Tim Hortons donuts the old-fashioned way. At last, though, it's here. In the wake of some not-so-subtle clues to the launch (logos have been visible for weeks in some places), Google has started rolling out Android Pay in Canada. It should work anywhere that already offers tap-to-pay shopping, and it'll accept MasterCard, Visa and debit cards from major banks including BMO, CIBC, Desjardins and Scotiabank. Many mobile and web apps will take Android Pay, too. With that said, there are some glaring omissions in support to watch out for.
Source: Google Official Canada Blog
Motorola has a surprise for us this week.
Motorola Canada has revealed that it’s announcing “the next bold phone from Motorola” tomorrow, June 1st. The company announced the news on Twitter, but it hasn’t given any other details about which device will debut.
Guess what?! We’re announcing the next bold phone from Motorola on June 1st. http://pic.twitter.com/SCyEkNtPza
— Motorola Canada (@Moto_CAN) May 30, 2017
We’ve seen quite a few unannounced Moto phones leak out in recent months, including the Moto Z2, Moto Z2 Play, Moto Z2 Force, and Moto G5S. That makes it tough to guess which hardware Moto Canada will announce tomorrow, but the good news is that we’ve only got around 24 hours to wait before this mystery will be solved.
What do you think Moto will announce tomorrow?
To hear Samsung's Galaxy S8 ad campaign tell it, the company's Bixby digital assistant was already fully featured and ready to go at the handset's launch. The reality is quite a bit different, however. Bixby Voice, the would-be competitor to Siri and Google Assistant apparently won't be available until late next month, somewhat narrowing the "later this spring" timeframe from April. Wall Street Journal reports that the cause for tardiness has to do with how the assistant comprehends English syntax and grammar. To be fair, that's a sore spot for pretty much every artificial intelligence system at the moment.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Google teased earlier this month that Android Pay would be coming soon to Canada, and now it looks like the service is ready to launch.
Android Pay is starting its rollout in Canada today, May 31st. Google will be adding support for top banks in Canada over the coming days, with support for more features, banks, and stores launching in the coming months.
To start, Android Pay will be gaining support for eligible Visa and MasterCard credit cards from BMO Bank of Montreal, CIBC, Banque Nationale, Scotiabank, Desjardins, President’s Choice Financial, ATB Financial, and Canadian Tire Financial Services in Canada, as well as prepaid Scotiabank and Desjardins cards. Support for Interac debit cards will start rolling out on Monday, and support for American Express and cards and Tangerine will come this summer.
Google is also teaming up with payment platforms, processors, and tech providers like Moneris, Bambora, Chase, Cybersource, First Data, Global Payments, Paysafe, WorldPay and Stripe.
When it comes to stores, Android Pay users in Canada will be able to visit Tim Hortons, Loblaws, Petro-Canada, McDonald’s, Indigo, Pizza Pizza, Sears Canada, Telus, Rogers, and Freedom Mobile stores and use their phone to make payments. Android Pay will also be supported in apps like 1-800-Flowers, Atom, B&H, DoorDash, Fancy, Hotel Tonight, Lululemon, PayRange, Ritual, Shopify, and Uber.
To use Android Pay, you’ll need an Android device that’s running 4.4 KitKat or higher and also includes NFC support. You’ll then need to install the Android Pay app from the Play Store.
Android Pay is a nice feature to have, letting you leave your wallet in your pocket or purse and simply tapping your phone to a terminal to pay. Android Pay originally launched in the US in September 2015, and since then we’ve seen it expand to other places like the UK and Hong Kong. Now Android Pay is launching in Canada, and it’s good to see Google continuing to expand its mobile payment service to major parts of the globe.
In the days before the Galaxy S8 was released, Samsung confirmed that the phone’s Bixby Voice feature wouldn’t be available at launch. Now more details on the Bixby Voice delay have surfaced.
Samsung’s Bixby Voice feature is unlikely to launch in the US until at least late June, say sources speaking to the Wall Street Journal. One tipster adds that the reason for the delay is that Bixby is have issues understanding English syntax and grammar.
Bixby Voice lets you perform actions in select apps using just your voice. Samsung previously said that it would launch Bixby Voice in the US “later this spring”, and that’s still a possibility since spring lasts until June 20.
Galaxy S8 and S8+ owners in the US aren’t totally Bixby-less, as they’ve still got access to features like Bixby Home (shown above), which provides at-a-glance info about things like your schedule and news, as well as Bixby Vision, a feature that uses the GS8’s camera to do things like identify products and help you buy them. Bixby Voice is still a major part of the Bixby experience, though, so here’s to hoping that Samsung can get the future out to US consumers soon.
With Android O official, many consumers are probably wondering if their device will receive this new version of Android. Now we can confirm two phones that will indeed get a taste of O.
OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has confirmed that both the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T will be updated to Android O. No release timeframe or other details have been given, but considering that Android O is still in beta testing, the lack of a launch timing for the OnePlus phones should come as no surprise.
A lot of you have been asking, so I'm proud to say Android O will come to OnePlus 3 and 3T.
— Pete Lau (@petelau2007) May 31, 2017
There’s a lot of focus lately on the OnePlus 5, which is expected to launch this summer, and so I’m sure that OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T owners are glad to hear that their phones won’t be abandoned as soon as the OnePlus 5 hits shelves.
Are you rocking a OnePlus 3 or OnePlus 3T? If so, does this news of an Android O update mean that you’ll be sticking with your phone for awhile?
North Korea has a state-controlled economy, and it produces devices such as tablets and computers for its citizens who can afford them. This isn't really news. But Myohyang IT, a state-owned North Korean tech company, just announced a new tablet that will raise some eyebrows: It's called . . . the iPad.
That's right. While North Korea hasn't exactly been respectful of intellectual property and trademarks in the past, this blatant violation sets a new bar for the military dictatorship. It's pretty safe to say that Apple is likely not happy about this development.
Source: NK News
Who knew stringing four numbers together and slapping it on a feature phone could evoke such a strong consumer reaction in 2017? Ever since HMD Global won MWC by announcing the new Nokia 3310, millennials have been frothing at the mouth in anticipation. The hype is somewhat understandable. For many people, the original Nokia 3310 would've been a totem representing their first taste of freedom. An unsupervised connection to friends; a plaything for idle hands. Many things have changed in 17 years, of course.
After weeks of discussions, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said it won't enforce a ban on laptops and other personal electronics on flights to the US from Europe. While officials remain keen to "implement any and all measures necessary to secure commercial aircraft" flying into the US, airlines and European officials appear to have sufficiently stalled negotiations on the blanket ban mooted earlier this month by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly.
Via: Politico
Source: DHS.gov
In just a few weeks, you can finally hold Sony's new high-end, high-performance flagship phone in your hands. You can pre-order Sony's Xperia XZ Premium in the US through Amazon and Best Buy starting on June 12th, but you can always just purchase it outright when retailers begin selling it on June 19th. When it officially comes out, it'll become the second commercially available phone to support gigabit LTE after Samsung's Galaxy S8.
Londoners' dreams of using their phone on the Tube may soon become a reality after it emerged that Transport for London (TfL) is preparing to invite bids from companies to build a public underground 4G network. According to the Financial Times, the regulator -- with backing from London Mayor Sadiq Khan -- could hold an auction after next week's general election, extending connectivity beyond Virgin Media's station-centric WiFi network.
Source: Financial Times
Artist Pierre Buttin takes brutalist web design to a mobile extreme with new series
PCs are making a comeback, if the news out of Computex 2017 is any indication, and Microsoft wants to make sure they're all constantly connected. To support that vision, Intel is making its current and future modems compatible with e-SIMs, so future laptops can connect to LTE networks without physical SIM-card trays. That's because the technology you'd typically find in a SIM card will be embedded into its modems, so you can connect your machine just by entering a phone number and avoid having to fiddle with a tiny tray.
Looks like Microsoft isn't done with its world tour. After a series of events in New York, Seattle and Shanghai, the company has yet another big announcement to make in Taiwan here at Computex 2017. And in keeping with the theme of bringing Windows everywhere, Microsoft is working with Qualcomm and Intel to deliver "Always Connected PCs" that are constantly online, have long-lasting batteries and portable designs.
Hours after the Essential Phone made its official debut, creator Andy Rubin took part in an interview and spilled a few more details about
In an interview with Walt Mossberg, Essential’s Andy Rubin revealed that his company is aiming to ship its new phone within the next 30 days. “You can reserve it now and I wouldn’t take reservations if it wasn’t going to ship in 30 days or so,” Rubin explained.
Of course, the only way to get the Essential Phone right now is through Essential’s website, but that won’t be the case forever. Rubin said that Essential plans to have retail points of purchase, both carriers and other retail distribution. He didn’t elaborate any further on those plans, but that’s good news for folks that like to be able to see and touch a device before they pay hundreds of dollars for it.
Mossberg then pointed out that iPhones ship without any carrier branding or influence and asked Rubin if that’ll be the case with the Essential Phone. “I’m trying as hard as I can to have a pro-consumer product where you get to decide what’s on your phone,” Rubin answered, suggesting that he’ll try to ensure that the Essential Phone has vanilla Android software similar to what you’d get if you bought a Pixel from Google.
Finally, questions about the Essential Phone’s front-facing camera came up. There’s a cutout in the top of the display for the camera, and Rubin said that this is because Android notifications grow inward and so the camera won’t actually get in the way of anything. He added that he didn’t care for cameras placed in the chin of a phone, like the Sharp Aquos Crystal, calling that “nostril cam.” Rubin then added that because the Essential Phone’s display is 19:10, the camera won’t get in the way of 16:9 video content viewed on the device.
So now we’ve got a few more details on the Essential Phone and Andy Rubin’s plans for the device. We still haven’t seen much of the phone in action, but if Rubin follows through on his plans, we could start seeing Essential Phones on doorsteps and in consumers’ hands next month. Then they can make their way into carrier stores and in front of the majority of cellphone shoppers, which is necessary if Rubin wants the Essential Phone to be a success.
If you’d like to watch Rubin’s whole interview for yourself while we wait for the Essential Phone to launch, you can do so at the link below.
During an interview with Walt Mossberg tonight at the Code Conference, Android creator and now Essential Products CEO Andy Rubin showed off his latest creation, the Essential Phone. When it was announced this morning and reservations opened the company didn't say much about when to expect shipments, but in response to a question from Mossberg, Rubin said that he "wouldn't take reservations if it wasn't going to ship in, you know, 30 days or so." He also mentioned that the company's Home assistant would be able to support AI helpers from other companies like Google, Amazon or Apple (if they choose to make them available on its Ambient OS).
Source: Recode (YouTube)
A couple of years ago, Twitter began allowing users to open their Direct Messages so that anyone could send them a message. That could end up causing the DM folder to be a bit chaotic if for someone that gets a lot of messages, but now Twitter is working to change that.
Twitter is now rolling out a “Requests” tab in your Direct Messages folder. When you receive a DM from someone you don’t follow, the message will go into that folder so that you can review it before engaging the sender. The user won’t know that you’ve seen the message until you accept it, and if you do, the message will go to your inbox and you can begin chatting with them.
If you’ve opted-in to get Direct Messages from anyone, messages from people you don’t follow will go into requests. https://t.co/n1qasb7JZC http://pic.twitter.com/HQY20T5f6t
— Twitter (@Twitter) May 30, 2017
The ability to review Direct Message requests is rolling out to the Twitter apps for Android and iOS as well as the web.
This new Twitter feature may not be a big deal for everyone, but for folks that do receive a lot of Direct Messages, this could be a nice addition. Now they can get more control over the inbox and have an easier time keeping track of their conversations.
BlackBerry and TCL have teased the KEYone for nearly half a year, and now Americans can finally see what all the fuss is about without jumping through hoops. The two have revealed that unlocked, US-friendly variants of the Android-powered BlackBerry will be available at both Amazon and Best Buy on May 31st. Spend $550 and you'll get the phone in either a GSM-tuned version (for the likes of AT&T and T-Mobile) or, if you shop at Amazon, a CDMA model optimized for Verizon. If that up-front price is just too much, Sprint and other carriers should offer the KEYone this summer.
Source: BlackBerry Mobile
Samsung just announced that it's adding UFC fights and other events to its new immersive programming lineup. It's the latest company to start broadcasting sports events in VR, but it's far from the first. Fox Sports has been uploading virtual reality coverage of big-name events for years, most recently livestreaming this year's Super Bowl. But the network is airing in VR a match that folks outside the US might consider just as massive: This Saturday's UEFA Champions League final between Real Madrid and Juventas.
Source: Fox Sports
Google is now rolling out an updated user interface for its YouTube apps to make them easier to navigate.
The new YouTube UI features navigation tabs at the bottom, a move that should make them easy to reach on even the biggest phablets on the market. The tabs are also labeled so that you know exactly what they do, and the YouTube app will remember where you left off on each tab when switching between them.
Other changes being rolled out to the YouTube app include a separation of Account and Library to make it easier to find what you’re looking for. Your videos, including playlists and watch history, are in the Library section. Your Account and Settings are found in the profile icon at the top of the screen.
Finally, Google says that it has made the navigation tabs viewable on all pages except for Watch so that you can quickly jump between tabs no matter where you are.
This new-look YouTube UI is already available on iOS and is now slowly making its way to Android users.
Denny's, which likes to think of itself as "America's diner," is making it easier to get its food without any human interaction -- very American, indeed. The company announced today that customers can now order delivery or takeout on its website, with its apps or through Twitter DMs. The new service, called "Denny's on Demand," comes with revamped iOS and Android apps and 24/7 access to the restaurant's menu.
Via: 9to5Mac
Source: Denny's
The first anniversary of T-Mobile Tuesdays is coming next week, and T-Mobile is planning to celebrate in a big way.
On June 6th, T-Mobile will offer what it says are its most popular T-Mobile Tuesday gifts from past Tuesdays. That includes a free T-Mobile trucker hat, $0.25 off a gallon of gas at Shell (up to 20 gallons), and two free rentals from Redbox (one for a friend, one for you), all for T-Mo customers.
The prizes for the June 6th edition of T-Mobile Tuesdays will include a year’s worth of free Baskin-Robbins ice cream for the winner and three friends, 100 LG G6 phones, and 5,000 $25 Lyft credits.
Also on June 6th will T-Mobile’s 12-hour “thankathon.” Starting at 9:00 am PT, T-Mobile will hand out a prize every hour for 12 hours, including free gas for a year, free movie tickets for a year, and $2,000 to spend at StubHub. To take part in the event, you’ll need to follow @TMobile on Twitter. Everyone is eligible for this contest, including non-T-Mobile customers.
Speaking of Twitter, T-Mobile is also hosting a “thankiversary” contest on Twitter. Starting today, May 30th, if you tweet @TMobile about your favorite T-Mobile Tuesdays gift from the past year and use the hashtags #Thankiversary and #Contest, you’ll be entered into a contest to win a trip for four to Las Vegas to see the event of your choice at T-Mobile Arena.
Finally, T-Mobile today teased some of the other goodies that it’s got planned for T-Mobile Tuesdays this summer. On one of the four Tuesdays in June, T-Mobile customers will be able to get a free Baskin-Robbins ice cream worth up to $4. And on every Tuesday in June, T-Mo customers will be able to get a second Baskin-Robbins sundae for $0.99 when they buy one at regular price.
T-Mobile is also planning to offer $4 movie tickets to four major summer movie releases. The first is happening today, letting T-Mo customers get a $4 ticket to see Wonder Woman on opening weekend.
iOS developers, another beta update has arrived.
Apple today released iOS 10.3.3 beta 2, a new update that comes two weeks after the initial iOS 10.3.3 beta release. The update is now available to registered developers in the Apple Developer Center or over the air.
So far, no significant new features have been found inside the iOS 10.3.3 beta releases. Given that it’s an x.x.1 release, it’s likely that iOS 10.3.3 focuses on under-the-hood performance improvements and bug fixes.
Apple hasn’t said when iOS 10.3.3 will be released to the public.
Also being released today is watchOS 3.2.3 beta 2. If you’re a registered iOS developer, you can grab this update, too.
As the years go by, my need for having “the latest and greatest” smartphone dwindles. At first I thought it was simply a matter of getting older and being more financially responsible, but I also think it has a lot to do with being satisfied with where smartphones are right now. I had a habit of upgrading my phone at least twice a year; very rarely did I keep one past the one year mark. However, I have officially used the Galaxy S7 (and S7 Edge, but they’re basically the same device) for a year now, and though I don’t feel I have a true need to upgrade considering how well it has held up, I’m finding myself tempted by the tomorrow’s release of the BlackBerry KEYone.
Initially, I waved it off as feeling nostalgic. I’ve had my experiences bouncing back to BlackBerry devices like the Q10 and the Classic after owning iPhones and Android devices, and neither lasted long. But was it the physical keyboard and the smaller screen that put me off from the device, or the fact that, like Windows Phone, BlackBerry 10’s (and later Amazon’s) app offerings simply didn’t cut it for me?
I’m inclined to think it’s the latter, because despite a slower typing speed on physical keyboard, I still prefer the tactile feedback of a physical keyboard to the haptic feedback (if there is one – looking at you, Apple) of a virtual one. The KEYone’s classic BlackBerry candybar style combined with the Android operating system appears to be the best of both worlds, giving many the hope that perhaps it is sometimes possible to have your cake and eat it, too.
That isn’t to discredit the BlackBerry Priv, which came first and was similar in nature. But despite the Priv’s slide-out physical keyboard, which gave it a touch of BlackBerry, it wasn’t the Android BlackBerry device that fans had been hoping for. The KEYone, on the other hand, is.
Looking over the specs again, the device really does seem to have made compromises in all the right places. It’s obvious that it heavily borrows from traditional BlackBerry design, but the other aspects of the KEYone seem equally as great. It uses the battery-efficient Snapdragon 625 processor, as well as a large 3505 mAh battery; it’s probably the first BlackBerry device to have a truly competitive rear-facing camera; 3GB of RAM give it decent multitasking power; 32GB of internal memory with microSD card slot are adequate for long-term storage needs; and finally, the device has a build that actually looks like it was designed for both comfort and beauty, with rounded edges at the bottom and sharp edges at the top, as well as a carbon fiber back panel to give it some grip.
The KEYone isn’t the most powerful device, but it doesn’t need to be. The device isn’t optimally designed for landscape anything, so those who are big into mobile gaming or media streaming probably won’t be much tempted by this device. But for those who do a lot of typing, web browsing, and really just interested in doing little more beyond the basics with long battery life, a physical keyboard, a good camera, sufficient storage, and access to Android’s expansive app ecosystem, this would be a good device to look into.
Some may consider the KEYone’s price a drawback. It might be a tough sell at $549 when you consider how many cheap-yet-adequate Android devices it’s competing with, but the price seems appropriate to me. The physical keyboard is a unique angle for modernn smartphones, the build premium, its specs are appealing, and it’s still marginally cheaper than flagship smartphones. I wouldn’t be surprised if, like many other smartphones, carriers had promotions for the KEYone as well, at least in the states. Or maybe it’s just wishful thinking.
Along with getting older, I find that I use my phone less for frivolous things. I mostly use it to check for notifications and updates, get some work done, and organization. Occasionally I get the itch to play some games or binge watch and entire season of something on Netflix, but I tend to gravitate towards other gadgets, like a computer or TV, for those activities anyway. The BlackBerry KEYone seems to be a great phone that both appeals to nostalgia and features the proper tools to appeal to a modern smartphone crowd, and with the device having already broken records at one carrier, perhaps this will be the BlackBerry brand’s key back into consumer’s hearts.
Readers, what are your thoughts on the eve of the KEYone’s release? Do you intend to pick one up for yourself, or are you too far past physical keyboards to even consider such a design anymore?
We've compiled a 'Top 10' list of our favorite Android apps to hit the Play Store in May 2017. The apps highlighted in this video include No Stick Shooter, Notification Reminder, Stash for Reddit, AUTOSET, Flix Icon Pack, Really Bad Chess, Minimalist Wallpapers, Screenshot Assistant, Join the Dots, and Lode Runner 1. Which app is your favorite?
Twitter today added a new feature to Direct Messages that will sort them into “Inbox” and “Requests.” The latter will contain DMs from people you do not currently follow, if you have opted to keep your DM open in the first place. You can preview the message and choose to hit accept or delete. Accepting the message will allow that user to continue message you in the future without getting sorted into the request tab. The sender will not know whether or not you’ve seen their message until you hit accept.
We gave this a quick spin and it looks like Twitter is still rolling the feature out — when I received a message from someone I didn’t follow, my Android app did not alert me with a push notification or a new message when I selected the...
Bad news if you're a fan of the Nik Collection of free photo-editing apps: Google has announced it will stop supporting the software suite effective immediately. "We have no plans to update the Collection or add new features over time," a banner atop the Nik Collection website and help center reads. Want in? Then download it now and start importing your photos to see what the fuss is all about.
Via: PetaPixel
Source: Nik Collection
For many, seeing “no 3.5mm headphone jack” was reason enough to instantly lose interest in Essential Phone, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The strange shift from headphone jack to dongleville over the past year wasn’t exactly warranted nor appreciated, yet the idea continues to spread for no discernable reason other than everybody else is doing it. Maybe it will eventually lead to some breakthrough in the future, but I still have my bets on the headphone jack making a microSD-card like return. But I digress.
However, those who have already adapted to life without headphone jacks may be intrigued by today’s unveiling of the Essential Phone, a device created by Essential, which was founded by Andy Rubin, a.k.a. “the father of Android”. Exhibiting arguably the hottest trend of 2017, Essential Phone has extremely thin bezels, a 5.7-inch QHD display, Snapdragon 835 processor, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of internal storage, 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, 8-megapixel front-facing camera, and a 3040 mAh battery. The device uses Essential's new Ambient UI.
On the design front, the Essential Phone remains somewhat unique among other bezel-less competitors like the LG G6 and Samsung Galaxy S8. Essential boasts that the phone’s ceramic and titanium build make it stronger than its competitors who used aluminum, and claims that it can drop and survive “without blemish, unlike the aluminum competitor devices.” It features a fingerprint sensor on the center back of the device, and the 13-megapixel camera and flash rest in the upper left-hand corner. The front of the device features extremely thin bezels on three sides, but has a thicker chin on the bottom. The front-facing camera strangely invades the screen in a weird, protruding manner. It is offered in Black Moon and Pure White variants, and will eventually offer Stellar Grey and Ocean Depths as well.
Essential Phone also has some accessories offered alongside the device, such as a 360-degree camera and a charging dock, both of which connect through magnetic connectors and wireless data transfers.
There are a couple of puzzling aspects about the device that might make one question whether this is a good value at $699. On the plus side, it is cheaper than most flagships that have 128GB of internal storage, but there isn’t a microSD card slot. However, aside from its nearly $700 price tag, the device won’t be offered through carriers, despite the fact that it’s one of the rare phones that supports both GSM and CDMA radios. Still, without being offered directly through carriers, general consumers (in the States, at least) likely won’t have much exposure to it, and the ones that do may be turned off from it simply by not having the ability to finance such an expensive device directly through their carriers.
No headphone jack is also a real downer, not to mention there’s no mention that the phone has any sort of waterproof or dustproof protection. So, while it might very well be stronger against drops in comparison to aluminum and glass phones, it doesn’t sound as if it would hold up as well in harsher environments that can be just as damaging, if not more so, than drops.
In my opinion, the device looks slick, and the ability to work with so many carriers is a welcome addition. However, it’s pricing and overall availability hinder its chances at success being a new brand in an already highly competitive industry. While the nickname “Father of Android” gives the company and device credibility, I’m just not sure it’s enough to overcome the setbacks that come with the device.
Readers, what are your thoughts on Essential Phone? Are its design and features enough to win you over, or is it missing too many “essentials”? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Alongside its new Android smartphone, Andy Rubin’s Essential today also revealed a new home-focused product.
The Essential Home is a smart home device like Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Home. Essential’s device features a round display and an assistant that can do things like answer questions, set timers, and integrate with services to perform actions like playing music and controlling your smart home products. It also offers proactive info, like telling you if you should leave early for a meeting due to traffic.
Powering this Essential Home is software called Ambient OS. This operating system includes support for services like SmartThings, HomeKit, Nest, and other smart home offerings, and according to a Wired report, it also works with Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and Google Assistant.
Essential is also placing a heavy focus on privacy with the Home. The device communicates with your other smart home products over your in-home network to limit its contact with the cloud, and its assistant runs its AI engine locally.
Unfortunately, those are all the details that we currently have about the Essential Home. The device is expected to launch later this year, but its exact launch date and price remain a mystery.
The Essential Home looks like a nice device, offering a form factor that’s reminiscent of a hockey puck and that’s dominated by a round display. Because we know so little about the device, though, it’s tough to get too excited about it or really say much else about it. Here’s to hoping that we learn more soon.
Today, Andy Rubin and his new company, Essential, took the wraps off what they've been working on for quite some time: The Essential Phone. It's actually just one piece of a bigger puzzle for Rubin and his new company, which want to control everything in your home with a more accessible platform called Ambient OS (and a new smart speaker), but, for the purpose of this article we're just going to focus on the newest smartphone coming to market.
The Essential Phone, which, let's face it, is pretty great branding and will lead to, hopefully, some great marketing, is a typical flagship phone in many regards. It has the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor you'd hope to find, what should be an adequate amount of RAM, plenty of built-in storage (with no microSD card slot, though), and while it lacks a 3.5mm headphone jack, there will be a dongle to help with that right in the box.
Because everyone loves dongles, right?
There are two cameras on the back, and there's a front-facing camera that can record 4K video. The device is sturdy, crafted from titanium and ceramic, and Essential is pretty positive that if you drop it, you'll probably be pretty safe from any major issues. It's running Android and there probably won't be much of an issue with unnecessary built-in software.
But, that last bit, is actually tied to a potentially big issue. Something that Google itself has run into in the past, and other companies that have been trying to make a name for themselves in the United States for years. It's an issue that even Sony has run into as of late. No major wireless carrier support. And it's something that the Essential Phone is facing right out of the gate.
For what it's worth, the Essential Phone does have one important feature: It's unlocked and supports every major wireless carrier in the United States. So you can switch from Verizon to T-Mobile, back to Sprint, and even get some attention from AT&T's cellular network, too. But while that's great for those who prefer that type of feature, it might not mean anything to the "average consumer."
What also might not matter to the average consumer is that Andy Rubin put together a new company to launch a new smartphone, especially because they can't get it from their carrier. Even if they see a commercial for the phone, which one would hope they do eventually, it might not matter if that person can't simply go into their carrier's local store and walk out with it.
Not having a major carrier support a phone is hard work, and while the Essential Phone is fantastic in terms of specs and design, I can't help but wonder if Rubin's desired future, where the Essential Phone is the crux of the smart home of so many people, is one that isn't obtainable.
Is the Essential Phone the smartphone that can break the curse? What do you think? Does Rubin have a hit on its hands, one that general consumers will embrace, or is this another niche handset?
With nigh-immediate grocery deliveries becoming more and more accessible, there's less incentive to pop down to your local shop to pick up the essentials. But Barclaycard is working on a way to make the in-store experience more convenient by allowing customers to dodge the checkout queue and pay for their basket with their smartphone. The "Grab+Go" app basically turns your device's camera into a barcode reader. When you're done combing the isles and scanning your haul, you simply checkout inside the app and your purchases are charged to a linked card. It then generates a digital receipt that the merchant also has access to, in case they suspect your bag is hiding a few undocumented items.
Via: Gizmodo, The Telegraph
Source: Barclaycard
Another major Android smartphone is getting ready to enter the flagship fray.
The Essential Phone is now official. The device is the first product from Essential, the new company from Andy Rubin, who is often referred to as “the father of Android”.
In terms of specs, the Essential Phone offers a 5.7-inch 2560x1312 display with a 19:10 aspect ratio and rounded corners. There’s an 8-megapixel front-facing camera that supports 4K video capture, and as you can see in the images of the device, the camera juts into the Essential Phone’s display, likely a decision made to help keep the bezels slim.
Around back there are two 13-megapixel cameras, one color and one monochrome, which Essential says help to capture more light and improve low-light performance. There’s also a fingerprint reader around back as well as a set of pogo pins for connecting accessories. The first accessory to take advantage of these pins will be a 360-degree camera.
Inside of the Essential Phone, which features a titanium frame, ceramic back, and Gorilla Glass 5 front, is a Snapdragon 835 processor, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of built-in storage, and a 3040mAh battery. The device includes a USB Type-C port and fast charging, and while there’s no 3.5mm headphone jack to be found, Essential does plan to include a USB Type-C-to-3.5mm adapter in the phone’s box.
The Essential Phone runs Android 7.1.1 and will be sold unlocked in the US and will include support for all four major wireless carriers.
You can now reserve an Essential Phone in Black Moon or Pure White. The phone will launch at a later date at a price of $699. The 360-degree camera add-on will cost $199, but if you reserve an Essential Phone early, you can get one for $50. Essential also plans to sell its phone in Stellar Gray and Ocean Depths colors in the future.
So there’s the Essential Phone. Because it’s coming from Andy Rubin, the device is sure to get a lot of hype, at least from mobile phone addicts. The phone mostly looks pretty nice (that front-facing camera seems kind of strange), and its spec list is just about what you’d expect from a flagship Android phone in 2017. What remains a mystery is whether or not the Essential Phone can become a hit. Most “normal” folks probably don’t know or really care who Andy Rubin is, and as we’ve seen in the past, it can be difficult to sell a phone in the US without the support of a major carrier.
What do you think of the Essential Phone? Will you be reserving one?
After months of teases and speculation, Android creator Andy Rubin has unveiled the first smartphone by his new company, Essential. As expected, it's designed to be a no-compromise device with top-of-the-line specs and sophisticated industrial design. Taking center stage is an edge-to-edge display that rises to the top of the phone, stopping only for the front-facing camera in the middle. The device is made of titanium and ceramic, which the company claims will trump most aluminium phones in the durability department. It's a sleek look complimented by a complete lack of logos.
Source: Essential
Samsung’s got a number of unique apps in the Play Store, and recently the company added one more to its lineup.
SoundAssistant is a new app from Samsung for its Galaxy devices. As its name suggests, this app helps to give you more control over the audio on your Samsung device. For example, you can choose to control the media volume instead of the ringer volume when you press your phone’s volume keys.
The SoundAssistant app also lets you set the volume of individual apps and enable mono audio if you’re ever in a situation where you’ve only got one earphone. There’s a Floating Equalizer in the app, too, which offers 150 steps of volume control. And then there are Scenarios, which let you choose a certain date and time for your phone to change to a certain sound profile, like activating vibrate mode or switching to vibrate mode and only playing sound through your headphones.
This looks like a pretty nice app from Samsung. The ability to control media volume with the phone’s volume rocker rather than the ringer can make it easier to quickly bump up the volume on a video or song, and the Floating Equalizer’s 150 points of volume control can let you really fine tune the volume until you get it exactly where you want it.
You can find Samsung’s SoundAssistant app in the Play Store using the link below.
Both the LG G6 and Snapdragon 835 are fairly new flagship offerings from LG and Qualcomm, respectively, but that reportedly hasn’t stopped those two companies from starting to collaborate on next year’s flagships.
LG and Qualcomm are said to be working together on a new flagship Snapdragon 845 processor for the LG G7. That’s according to a report from Aju Business Daily, via The Investor. The Snapdragon 845 will reportedly be 30 percent more powerful than the Snapdragon 835.
The LG G6 missed out on the Snapdragon 835 this year, reportedly because Samsung claimed the first batch of Snapdragon 835 processors for its Galaxy S8. While the SD821 is still a nice chipset, having the latest and greatest specs can be important for some consumers, and so it’s possible that LG realizes this and is taking steps to ensure that the LG G7 won’t miss out on Qualcomm’s new flagship processor for 2017.
We already knew from Google I/O that ASUS' ZenFone AR, the second-ever Tango phone (and the first to also support Daydream), was getting close to its official launch, and that it's coming to the US as a Verizon exclusive this summer. Thankfully, we now know when people will actually be able to buy one. Right after ASUS' pre-Computex keynote today, I sat down with CEO Jerry Shen who revealed that this device will finally be launching in Taiwan in mid-June, followed by a US launch as soon as end of June or early July.
