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Microsoft started branching out in mobile a few years ago when it became apparent Windows Phone wasn't going to work out. One of the apps that came out of the so-called "Microsoft Garage" program was Arrow Launcher. It was a reasonably popular app in the Play Store, and now Microsoft is giving it renewed focus and a new name. It's the Microsoft Launcher now.
One of T-Mobile's big "uncarrier" moves was to offer international roaming data to most customers for free. However, Canada and Mexico were special cases where you'd get full-speed LTE data on most plans. There wasn't any special limit on that data, which was remarkably generous—too generous, it would seem. T-Mobile is rolling that feature back and limiting LTE to 5GB per month in those countries.
Samsung showed off several new accessories at IFA a few weeks ago, and two of them are about to go on sale. Starting this Friday (the 13th), you can drop some cash on the Gear IconX earbuds and Gear Sport smartwatch. The aforementioned cash will be substantial, though. The smartwatch is priced at $299.99 and the earbuds are $199.99.
Nokia is making phones again, but most of them have been mid-range or cheaper phones. The rumored Nokia 9 will be a flagship phone, and now we have a good idea what it looks like thanks to OnLeaks' latest collaboration with Compareraja. The Nokia 9 looks like a sleek device, but the company is exhibiting an excess of courage by ditching the headphone jack.
Huawei's Honor sub-brand has been a vehicle for several budget smartphones in the last few years, including the Honor 6X from early 2017. Now, the Honor 7X is official, but only for the Chinese market so far. It keeps the dual camera setup from the last Honor, but it has gained a taller 18:9 display and aluminum frame.
Amazon last updated its 10-inch Fire HD tablet in 2015, but today the recently announced refresh goes live. It looks more like the other new Fire HD tablets, and the price is $80 less than the old Fire HD 10. It can be yours for $149.99 on Amazon right now, but that includes the customary Amazon "special offers."The Fire HD 10 includes a number of improvements over the older tablet. The display resolution has been bumped to 1920x1200, although Amazon is advertising it as "1080p full HD." You also get 32GB of storage in the base model (with a 64GB upgrade for $40), 2GB of RAM, and a faster quad-core MediaTek chip. The chassis is made from the same textured plastic as the recently refreshed 8 and 7-inch tablets, and it comes in several different colors.
A security researcher has revealed that a recently patched hole in T-Mobile's security made it possible for hackers to vacuum up all your personal account information, and all they needed was your phone number. And you probably give that out all the time. T-Mobile says the vulnerability has been corrected, but there's some question as to how severe the data breach might have been.
There are two things we've come to expect in each Telegram update. First, the developers will add some useful features that improve your chat experience. Second, there will be a cool cartoon illustration of the update with a hipster monopoly man. The latter is obviously present (you'll have to forgive the iPhone), but what about the features? You can share live locations, listen to tunes more easily, and more. That sounds pretty useful.
Google and Motorola announced a big step for Project Fi a few weeks ago. The new Moto X4 will be the first "Android One" device in the US, as well as the first non-Google device on Project Fi. It's just not either of those things quite yet. The phone was supposed to be shipping around now, but customers are being notified of a delay of several weeks.
Your phone is a powerhouse compared to even the most impressive supercomputers from a few decades ago, and most of the time that power isn't being put to good use. The Folding@Home project is all about harnessing unused CPU cycles from multiple devices and machines across the world in order to solve big medical problems. The Android app has been available for a few years, but it's now officially open source.
Netgear has long been known for its networking and storage products, but the Arlo camera division is becoming a force to be reckoned with in its own right. The company saw good results from the release of Arlo Pro last year, and it's following that up with a second generation. The Arlo Pro 2 is going on sale now, and it's a bit more expensive than the previous Arlo Pro. The added cost gets you a resolution bump to 1080p, support for extra wired capabilities, and more.At a glance, the Arlo Pro 2 looks almost like the old camera, and even on closer inspection, they're virtually identical. Arlo Pro 2 is a completely wireless camera like the first-gen, but you get several new video capabilities. Most importantly, the new camera has 1080p video output (130-degree field of view) instead of 720p like the last one. The previous Arlo had a sensor capable of 1080p, but Netgear says it's made sure the new camera has the power to record and process 1080p video without overheating. Like last year's Arlo Pro, this camera can operate for months without a recharge.
One of the main selling points of Arlo security cameras is that you don't need to plug them into power. However, Arlo Pro 2 is designed to operate in either wired or wireless mode. If you have the camera plugged in, it's able to do some extra things like record 24/7 video (with the applicable subscription plan). There's also the new "Look back" feature. The camera basically keeps recording a small buffer of video all the time while plugged in. If it detects motion, it can save that buffered video so you get a longer clip that might show more of what happened. Custom activity zones work with the wired Arlo Pro 2 as well. Arlo's beta smart alerts feature is still just in beta, though.Arlo has Alexa integration with its cameras, so you can pull up the video feed on an Echo Show or Fire TV device with a voice command. The company is working on Assistant integration in the form of voice commands to control your cameras, but video streaming via Assistant is not happening yet. The version shown off by Google and Nest at the recent event was only just made available to partners, so it'll take a while.
Arlo Pro 2 can be purchased as an add-on camera for those currently using Arlo systems. The hub is unchanged from the last-gen product, so you can be up and running at 1080p in a few minutes. The camera by itself is $219.99, about $40 more than the Arlo Pro. A kit with the required wireless hub and two Arlo Pro 2 cameras will run you $479.99, and the larger 4-camera kit is $799.99. Remember, you can mix and match Arlo Pro cameras, so those 720p cams won't go to waste. Arlo cameras have 7 days of video storage, but you can subscribe to a $10 monthly plan for 30 days of storage on as many as 10 cameras. Arlo Pro 2 is available from Arlo, Best Buy, Amazon, and other retailers.
Google unveiled some big changes to the Pixel Launcher the other day along with the Pixel 2, and you know what that means. Yes, third-party launchers are adopting the same features. First out of the gate is Action Launcher, which has been updated to v29 with support for a bottom search box. Not into Google's new search layout? That's cool—it's optional.
Sprint was strutting around last week, telling us all that it was going to be the only "major carrier" to offer the LG V30+ this month. However, it turns out the accuracy of that statement really depends on your definition of "major." US Cellular has just announced that it has launched both the V30 and the V30+ on its major-ish network.
Where is your phone right now? Is it in your pocket, on the coffee table, or has it slipped in between the couch cushions? You won't have to wonder about where your phone has gotten to anymore, as long as there's a Google Home nearby. Google is adding a feature to find your phone with a voice command, even if the phone is on silent.
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The Essential Phone has a pair of cameras on the back, but more does not always mean better. As demonstrated in our review, the Essential Phone took really mediocre pictures at launch. The company has been working on improving the camera through software with a series of updates, and today the latest one has been announced. Build NMI81C is rolling out now with a number of camera tweaks.
One of the coolest demos in Google's event yesterday came during the Nest section when the presenter used an Assistant command to beam a camera feed to the big screen. A lot of the things Googled showed off aren't available yet, but this one is. You might need to do a little setup, though.
Today was Google's big hardware event, and we saw a ton of new things. There are new phones, new Google Homes, and even a new Chromebook. You can relive it all right now. In addition to the live streamed event, Google posted a number of ads and product demos. Here they all are, organized by product.
What would a Google phone launch be without a bunch of fancy (and expensive) new phone cases in the Google Store? The Pixel team is really going all out this year with more materials, partners, and even a crazy photo lens case.
The Pixel 2's free original-quality Google Photos uploads are only available through the end of 2020
Google launched the Pixel last year with an emphasis on photography, and it offered free uncompressed photo and video uploads to Google Photos to drive the point home. It's the same on this year's Pixel 2 and Pixel 2XL, but now we know how long that offer lasts. The free original-quality uploads are only offered through the end of 2020.
Most phones released in recent years have used nanoSIM for carrier information, but there were rumors as the Pixel 2 unveiling neared that Google's phones would have an eSIM instead. According to Google's specs, the Pixel 2 does indeed have an eSIM. However, there's also a nanoSIM slot.