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- The C423NA is now up for sale on the Asus site. Unlike what we speculated, the base model has 4G of RAM, but it comes with a paltry 32GB of storage. The price is $269.99.
Are you waiting for a successor to the Chromebook Flip C302? Too bad, because Asus is giving us another low-end Chromebook instead. Following the entry-level C223NA that launched last month (our review is coming soon), Asus has quietly listed another inexpensive Chromebook on its site - the C423.
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A few nasty software bugs have been discovered on the Google Pixel 3 and 3 XL, one of which causes some photos not to be saved. It's not entirely clear what triggers the bug in the first place, though there were reports of it affecting other Google-made phones too, like the Pixel 2 XL.
Firefox for Android has become significantly better over the past few updates, especially with the new Photon UI and 'Quantum' CSS rendering engine. Version 63 is now available for Android, and it adds a handful of useful features, including support for Picture-in-Picture mode and notification channels.
In many cases, using a VPN is actually worse for your security than connecting to a public Wi-Fi network. Many services have been found logging user data, and it's hard to know which ones actually care about your privacy. To help solve this, Mozilla has conducted an extensive review of many VPN services, and will offer ProtonVPN subscriptions to a limited set of Firefox users.
As we've previously covered, the Pixel 3 and 3 XL have an updated Google Camera application. The new version has an iPhone-like sliding UI, support for capturing RAW images, a new panorama mode, and more. Not only does the update also add a viewfinder to your smartwatch, but it's also now rolling out to 2016 and 2017 Pixels.
The LG G6 is over a year old at this point, but if software updates aren't a major concern for you, it's still a pretty good phone. The 2017 flagship has now dropped to just $250 on B&H — that's $350 lower than the original MSRP, and $150 less than the current Best Buy price.
With all the recent issues cropping up on the Pixel 3 and 3 XL, it's probably about time for some good news, right? As it turns out, the Pixel 3 on AT&T has access to network features most other unlocked phones don't — including Wi-Fi calling, HD voice, and creating a hotspot.
Linux apps have arrived in the Chrome OS stable channel, but not all Chromebooks have access to them. The Linux container requires some kernel features that won't be backported to several models, but now Google is bringing the feature to a handful of MediaTek-based Chromebooks.
YouTube TV has suffered a few outages, and the latest one occurred last week. Thankfully, YouTube TV realizes how much of an annoyance these can be — it's now offering a week of free service to affected customers, to make up for the trouble.
Google has been working on a Chrome OS phone syncing feature for over a year, called 'Better Together'. It started out as a way to respond to SMS messages from your phone on your Chromebook, but it has evolved into something more general-purpose. Now the functionality is rolling out on the Chrome OS Dev channel.
The Android subsystem has become an increasingly important part of Chrome OS, but it's still based on Android 7.1.2 Nougat. Some of the improvements in Oreo and Pie would be highly-beneficial for Chromebooks, like Picture-in-Picture, the updated emoji set, Vulkan 1.1, and mouse capturing. Now it seems Google is updating the Android subsystem straight to 9.0 Pie, skipping Oreo entirely.
Last year, OnePlus released a handy app for migrating to a new device, called OnePlus Switch. Even though Google already backs up some app data and settings to the cloud, OnePlus Switch can transfer even more information — provided you're coming from a supported device.
Synthetic benchmark tests rarely prove how well a smartphone performs in real-world use, especially because most phone manufacturers have been caught tampering with results. Huawei, Samsung, OnePlus, and others have implemented software tweaks that speed up their devices while benchmarks are being executed. You can now add Oppo to that list, according to UL Benchmark (the maker of 3DMark and other popular testing software).
One of my few remaining complaints with my Google Home is that it responds to questions at whatever the current volume is. If I was listening to loud music earlier in the day and forgot to turn down the volume later, my request to turn off the room lights results in "OKAY, TURNING OFF THE BEDROOM LIGHTS" being blasted. This is no longer a problem for Alexa owners at least, with the new 'Whisper Mode' feature.
Two days ago, Google unveiled new licensing terms for Android phones and tablets in the European Union, following the EU's record $5 billion fine. Device manufacturers can now sell phones with heavily-modified builds of Android while also producing normal Android devices with the Play Store, and some apps (like Chrome and Google Search) are now separate licenses. According to a report from The Verge, device makers are still strongly incentivized to ship Search and Chrome, or they could pay as much as $40 per device for access to the Play Store.
In my opinion, Asus makes the best Chromebooks on the market, second only to Google. Last year's Chromebook Flip C302 is still one of the best Chrome OS laptops you can buy, especially considering its competitive price point. The company's lower-end C101PA is also a fantastic 10-inch convertible. I think you can easily make the argument that without Asus, Chromebooks wouldn't have the mainstream appeal they enjoy today.That being said, both the C101PA and C302 are nearly two years old and long-overdue for a replacement. Asus released a new Chromebook last month, but it wasn't a new premium laptop or an entry-level 2-in-1. The 'C223NA,' as it's called, is something different entirely - it's basically a netbook.The C223 is unapologetically cheap, with an underwhelming non-touch Twisted Nematic (TN) screen and low-end hardware. The retail price of $230 is in line with other similarly-specced Chromebooks, but it's hard to believe that the company widely known for building great Chrome OS devices at competitive prices made this product.
Chrome 69 was a massive update, as it brought a brand new interface to both desktop and mobile. Chrome 70 isn't as radical of a change, but it includes a few important new features, like support for the AV1 video codec and TLS 1.3.
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- iFixit has posted a teardown of the smaller Pixel 3, and the display on that phone appears to be manufactured by LG. In other words, this is the opposite of last year — the XL has a Samsung screen, and the small Pixel has an LG screen.
iFixit has torn apart every major smartphone released over the past decade or so. The repair site recently posted a teardown of the Google Pixel 3 XL, giving some insight into what hardware the phone is using. Interestingly, iFixit discovered that the 3 XL uses an OLED panel from Samsung, not LG.
Google Search has been a key component of Android since the OS was first released, and Chrome has become increasingly important in recent years. All three products are now intertwined, but the European Union wants them to be separate. Google recently was hit with a $5 billion fine from the EU, and to avoid more fines while the company challenges the EU in court, it is now complying with new regulatory rules.
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S Battlegrounds, or PUBG for short, is largely responsible for starting the current trend of Battle Royale games. It may have lessened in popularity following the launch of Fortnite and other similar games, but it still has a respectable following. In fact, it just passed 100 million downloads on the Play Store.