About Ryan Whitwam
Ryan is a tech/science writer, skeptic, lover of all things electronic, and Android fan. In his spare time he reads golden-age sci-fi and sleeps, but rarely at the same time. His wife tolerates him as few would. He's the author of a sci-fi novel called The Crooked City, which is available on Amazon and Google Play.
Latest Articles
We feature a lot of Anker chargers, cables, and batteries on AP because they're usually good quality and don't cost too much. Today, some of these accessories cost even less on Amazon. Anker products are up to 45% off right now, but the deals are valid today only.There are more than a dozen Anker products on the discount list, so check the landing page for all of them. Here are some particularly relevant sales.
So, you probably don't have a Galaxy S10 yet. Maybe you're anxiously waiting for a pre-order to ship or you're on the fence about ordering Samsung's latest (very expensive) phone. In either case, you might be interested in Samsung's new Experience app for Galaxy S10. It's not the same as actually using a Galaxy S10, but it might give you the gist.
Things have slowed down for Essential, which launched its only phone about 18 months ago. The company is at least doing a good job of keeping that phone up to date. After a shockingly quick Pie update, Essential has stayed on top of monthly patches. In the latest OTA, the Essential Phone is getting Google's Digital Wellbeing.
Things have not been going well for HTC as it continues to hemorrhage money quarter after quarter. Its decision to sell off its Pixel division to Google didn't do anything to staunch the bleeding; it's just more blood to run through the sieve. Now, HTC is considering a bold strategy, according to a new report. The smartphone maker may simply license its name to other smartphone manufacturers.
Slices are one of the lesser-known feature additions in Android Pie, offering shortcuts to features inside apps. You've probably seen them in the app drawer on Pixel devices. Now, Slices are popping up in another place. Google is using Slices to surface settings controls inside the search UI on Pixel phones—no more digging into the settings.
[Update: T-Mobile joins the party] Samsung Galaxy Note 9 on AT&T and Sprint gets its Pie update
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Samsung promised it would start rolling out Pie updates in the US this month, and it's technically living up to that. However, only a few phones have gotten the new version so far, including Verizon and Sprint's Galaxy S9s. Today, AT&T becomes the first carrier to deploy a Note 9 Pie update. You'll have to find some WiFi to get started.
You probably spend almost every moment of your life within arm's reach of your phone, which connects you to the entire world. Constant connectivity has fundamentally improved our lives, but there are consequences to being plugged in at all times. Today is the National Day of Unplugging in the US, so why not give your phone the day off?
It's the big day for Moto's new budget G-series phone. The Moto G7 is on sale today via all the usual retail channels including Best Buy, B&H, and Moto itself (yesterday). If you want to use the G7 on Google Fi, there's some good news. Google will sell you the phone for $50 less than the retail price.
Samsung's latest phones are expensive, and you don't want to spend $1,000 on something just to have it break. Leave it up to JerryRigEverything to break phones for you. The latest video features the Galaxy S10 surviving all the standard tests, but he also inflicts some extra abuse on the display to test the robustness of the ultrasonic fingerprint sensor.
The JBL Link bar looked like an interesting Google-infused product when it popped up in May 2018, but it has been chronically delayed ever since. JBL started taking pre-orders in August of last year, but it missed the fall ship date, Now, the spring 2019 ship date is being pushed back to summer.
[Update: More YouTube changes] YouTube losing advertisers after video reveals recommendation 'wormhole' of pedophiles
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YouTube is the world's largest video sharing site, so it's no stranger to drama. Often, the turmoil is thanks to the incredible volume of content uploaded, which makes it infeasible to vet every video. YouTube has been called out in the past for hosting videos that portrayed cartoon characters in inappropriate ways, but the latest episode is somewhat creepier. YouTuber Matt Watson has revealed a bizarre and disturbing "wormhole" of pedophiles on the site.
Samsung really, really wants you to use Bixby. That's why it has included a physical button to access its woefully underpowered assistant on most phones since the Galaxy S8. Samsung has traditionally tried to prevent remapping that button, but the Galaxy S10 changed that. The official Bixby remapping feature from that phone is now spreading to Samsung's other devices.
Our online lives are increasingly dominated by a small number of large technology firms, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is feeling pressure to put those companies under the microscope. Screw-ups like Google's Nest Secure microphone and Facebook's... well, everything... have only added to the urgency. The agency has announced the formation of a task force that will examine how the likes of Google and Facebook do business, including scrutinizing mergers.
It's been about six months since Android Pie launched, and we're still waiting on updates for quite a few phones. Some OEMs haven't even talked about which phones will get the update, but Asus has finally spilled the beans on its OTA plans. Well, some of the beans. There's a list of phones that will get Pie, but we don't have a specific timeline.
Google's Chrome OS can run on much more modest hardware than the average Windows-powered laptop, but the cheapest Chromebooks still have to cut corners when it comes to the display, keyboard, and connectivity. The Lenovo C330 Flip Chromebook avoids many of those cheap Chromebook pitfalls, which is why we gave it our "Most Wanted" award. Now, you can get this device for just 9.99 at Newegg, which is $80 off the already totally reasonable price.
Some of the most iconic watch faces in the world are connected to incredibly expensive watches, but a smartwatch can imitate those spendy devices with a little bit of code. Swatch isn't very happy about that, and it's accusing Samsung of knowingly profiting from clones of Swatch designs for devices like the Galaxy Watch. It cites numerous examples of allegedly copied designs in its filings, including one that came from a custom $650,000 watch.
Wireless charging is "a thing" again, and it's better than it was the last time. OnePlus says its upcoming flagship phone won't have it, though. Its reason for not including wireless charging on the OnePlus 7? Wired charging is faster. That's not wrong, but it's not really the point.
Google released Duo alongside Allo, and unlike that app, Duo is still going strong. After seeing hints of Duo web support for the last few weeks, the service is going live. Simply head over to the Duo site, and you can place calls from your browser.
[Update: Still available for now] Arlo seemingly axes annual camera subscription options
Arlo has traditionally offered a great value in its cloud storage plans, but that value might be taking a hit today. The Arlo website seems to have been updated to remove the annual camera subscription options. All you have left now are the slightly more spendy monthly plans.
The Pixel 3 Lite just went through the FCC, but don't worry, you've already seen more than they have
Did you know Google is working on a cheaper version of the Pixel 3? I know, this is entirely new information. I mean, aside from the multiple leaks that included both photos and video. Now, the phones are a step closer to reality after stopping by the FCC.