Latest Articles
The Nest Hello is one of the best smart home devices I've ever used, but it won't work in all homes. You need a low-voltage wired doorbell and a compatible transformer to power Nest Hello, or at least you did until now. A Google-approved indoor power adapter is now available for $29, making the Hello compatible with almost any home.
HTC's got problems. Its sales are tanking quarter after quarter, and blockchain phones are not exactly in high demand. Now, you can add another problem to the list. The long-delayed Pie update for the U11 has been pulled because it's soft-bricking phones.
T-Mobile just announced revamped plans last month, and now it has new international data passes to go with them. The old day pass option still exists, but now you can give T-Mobile more money for more data, and those bytes won't expire as quickly.
You've got numerous choices in connected some security cameras these days, but almost all of them require wires. Running a camera solely on batteries introduces a lot of uncertainty. Will it last long enough? Will it wake up reliably? Arlo, a former Netgear subsidiary, has released several battery-powered cameras that bested the competition, but the new Arlo Ultra is a tougher sell.This 4K camera has a high upfront cost and higher monthly fees than other devices, but the performance is admittedly impressive. The video is incredible, and the addition of a spotlight is genuinely helpful. After some software updates, the Arlo Ultra is a good product with similar reliability to Arlo's past cameras. However, the high price point makes it difficult to recommend.
By all accounts, Essential doesn't have a whole lot going on right now. It launched one phone about 18 months ago and has been cutting staff ever since. If Essential is working on another phone, it hasn't seen fit to talk about that. So, what is there to do other than keep the Essential Phone updated? Another month, another instant update for Essential Phone owners.
It didn't take long for Google to move from the free Project Stream demo late last year to the Stadia reveal in March. The company isn't even waiting for E3 to drop more details. Google says the first "Stadia Connect" is coming on June 6th, and you'll be able to watch on YouTube. That's when we'll learn about upcoming Stadia games and the service's pricing structure.
HMD's revived Nokia brand adopted the Android One program several years back, offering guaranteed updates on all its current phones. However, the company hasn't stopped supporting those early phones from before the update guarantee. The 2017 Nokia 3 has just gotten a long-awaited update to Android 9 Pie. This brings the total number of Pie-powered phones from Nokia to 19.
Motorola has announced a new Moto Z phone, marking the fourth generation of devices with the same Mod connector. The new phone works with last year's 5G Mod on Verizon, but that's not the only new way to get 5G. Motorola also confirms that the Z2 Force will work with the 5G Mod soon.
AT&T is crowing today, but for an unusual reason. The carrier is now the first in the US to accept cryptocurrency payments. That's good news for Bitcoiners and not really important for everyone else.
It wasn't that many years ago that LG was releasing the first phone with Nougat, but times have changed. Now, LG is unusually slow to update its phone, even with that fancy new upgrade center! Well, at least owners of the v40 ThinQ on Verizon can enjoy an update today, late though it may be.
Most video is landscape, but the era of smartphones has led to an explosion of people shooting portrait video. Instagram embraced portrait videos when it launched IGTV last year. You could be forgiven if you forgot all about it in the intervening months. Now, Instagram is looking to give IGTV a boost with a new feature: landscape video.
Google is in the process of folding Nest into its hardware group, and that includes rebranding several "Google" devices as "Nest." Some of the traditional Nest smart home products are on sale on the Google Store today—not any of the fancy smart displays. You can, however, get solid discounts on Nest Secure, thermostats, and more.
Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is more than a scheme to add another pop-up to every site you visit. It's a framework of regulations that govern how companies can use the data collected about people online. As perhaps the largest handler of personal data online, Google would inevitably face GDPR inquiries. Today, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) has initiated the first GDPR investigation of Google, probing whether or not it misused data in order to target advertising.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched a legal case against Qualcomm in 2017, and US District Judge Lucy Koh has just issued a scathing ruling against the dominant chipmaker. Koh's 233-page ruling details how Qualcomm illegally used its leverage in the market to stifle competition and impose unfair fees. As a result, Qualcomm's stock price has taken a nosedive.
Last year, the Tor Project began working on a new browser for Android. Of course, it was possible to connect to Tor on Android with Orbot/Orfox, but the Tor Browser is a fully integrated package. Now, you can try the first stable release (v8.5) of the Tor Browser on Android.
Ridesharing services are convenient, but they do involve getting in a stranger's car. There have been instances where a sketchy driver slips through the cracks or riders just get in the wrong car. Lyft is rolling out new safety features in the app to give riders a little more peace of mind.
Samsung released three versions of the Galaxy S10 earlier this year, but the "best" model wasn't available until now. The Galaxy S10 5G has officially launched in the US as a (temporary) Verizon exclusive. Samsung pitches the S10 5G as the most desirable member of the S10 family regardless of your access to 5G, but it comes with an inflated price of $1,300. Reinforcing this, Verizon is willing to sell the new S10 variant to anyone, even if you don't live near a 5G market.
Read update
Sprint and T-Mobile have been pushing regulators to approve their proposed merger for a year, and it looks like the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is falling in line. Commissioner Brendan Carr and chairman Ajit Pai have both signaled their support on Twitter. That just leaves the Justice Department standing in the way of T-Mobile gobbling up Sprint and all its yummy spectrum.
The issue tracker is a good way to bring bugs and feature requests to Google's attention, but sometimes yelling at the guy who runs Android at Google is more effective. Google marked scrolling screenshots as "infeasible" in the issue tracker recently. At Google I/O this year, someone asked Dave Burke about that. Now, Burke has overruled the issue tracker decision, and scrolling screenshots will come to stock Android.
The launch of a new OnePlus phone is usually something to note—they've always offered a good value compared to more expensive phones. The new OnePlus 7 Pro is a different animal, though. This is the first OnePlus phone that feels like it really competes with spendy flagship phones, and as you can tell from our glowing review, it's a great phone. You can pick up a OnePlus 7 Pro starting today, and we've got a code for $10 off if you add some accessories to your order.