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As we're closing in on MWC, manufacturers are starting to tease us on what to expect. Nokia is also joining the party and hinting about announcements in Barcelona on February 24th, which aligns with the date and location of Mobile World Congress. What appear to be two promotional images also corroborate this, showing off what may be the N9 PureView and another phone.
If you missed Aukey's recent markdown on smart sockets and are still on the lookout for a connected one, this deal on a 2-pack Eufy Smart Plugs gives you another chance at wirelessly controlling your appliances at a discount. The rebate takes $14 off the original $40 tag, bringing the two plugs down to just $26.
Devices running Android One are expected to receive software updates frequently and over an extended timeframe. Among them are Nokia's phones, which started to receive Pie back in September. The brand's update roadmap also confirmed all handsets released after 2017 would follow by the end of Q2. The two-year-old Nokia 6 was due to receive Android 9 Pie in March, but Juho Sarvikas, Chief Product Officer at HMD, tweeted the upgrade is rolling out a few weeks ahead of schedule.
February is going to be full of announcements, beginning with Samsung's Unpacked event tomorrow, followed by many more during Mobile World Congress next week. Huawei, though, has preferred to stay away from the crowd and decided to wait another month to officially unveil its P30 flagship, which it says will rewrite the rules.
It seems Samsung won't have much to unveil during its Unpacked event tomorrow: Little is left to know about the Galaxy S10 lineup, and the screenshots from the company's Wearables app that leaked earlier this week shed more light on the upcoming Galaxy Buds and Watch Active. As if this wasn't enough, full press renders of the products have been published, revealing more about their features and design.
Apple popularized fully cordless audio with its AirPods, but other manufacturers also offer cheaper or better alternatives. A good illustration is Aukey's in-ear buds, which are much more discreet than their counterpart — meaning they don't look like toothbrush heads — and cost $100 less. The below coupons make them $20 cheaper and therefore one of the most affordable products in their category, at just $39.59.I'm a big fan of true wireless in-ear earbuds because they fit perfectly and their tight grip offers passive noise cancelation. The absence of any cable means you're free to move your head around without having to worry about obstructions, which is particularly useful when working out. You will have to be cautious with Aukey's buds, though, as they don't offer water or sweat resistance, but I'm not sure you can expect more given their price.
February 20 will be a busy day for Samsung: In addition to hosting its Unpacked event in San Francisco to launch the Galaxy S10, it will also open three new brick-and-mortar locations in Los Angeles, Long Island, and Houston. These will be the Korean giant's equivalent of Apple Stores, where customers could try out and buy the brand's latest products such as smartphones, TVs, and wearables, as well as receive assistance and on-premise repair services.
Samsung will host its Unpacked event in San Francisco in a few days, on February 20, to unveil its new flagships. The Korean brand is expected to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its Galaxy S lineup by announcing not one, but several devices. There have been many rumors about these phones since December, and while the wait is almost over, we wanted to give you a summary of what to anticipate next week.
Samsung will unveil its new flagships on February 20, and the brand seems to acknowledge we already know almost everything about these devices, so much as to let you pre-order them now. The manufacturer has put up a page to let you reserve the "next Galaxy," on which it explicitly says it "know[s] you know what is coming soon," without sharing any details on the handsets themselves, besides the previously published teaser of a potential folding phone.
Have you ever come out of the subway running late for a meeting with no clue which way you're supposed to go? Sure, Maps will tell you how to get to your appointment, but only if it's aware of where you are and what direction you're facing. Sometimes it "thinks" it knows these, even though the data it's being fed is inaccurate. You're then in for some impromptu outdoor trivia: Try to figure out which path to follow by checking if the blue dot is moving in the same direction you're supposed to. If it's not, it probably means your compass is not calibrated, so you can start frenetically shaking your phone in an 8 shape to see if it'll eventually point the right way. You then walk for a few feet and the dot suddenly "slides" 2 blocks away... Oh right! You're in a crowded city, and GPS accuracy is reduced because of all these skyscrapers. Don't worry though; you'll find a street sign and a landmark to manually pinpoint your location on the map and arrive 15 minutes late.
Back in May, Google showcased an innovative navigation system that leveraged the phone's camera to provide augmented reality GPS guidance. Although the demo was very promising, the feature wasn't expected to be immediately available, even for testing. However, the company is now letting select people, mostly Local Guides with access to a preview version of Maps, use the feature, and David Pierce from the Wall Street Journal was among the lucky ones to give it a first try.
Just a few days after Google's "Dump your valentine" discount, Amazon has come up with its own deals, in time for February 14. These offers are more relevant, though, and are worth considering if you're short of gift ideas. Most of the giant's connected home devices are on sale, including Echo speakers and smart displays, Fire TVs, cameras, and even Kindles.Amazon's speakers have been marked down several times in the last few weeks, including deals on the Echo Plus and Echo Input, but the retailer is going stronger now to rival Google's bundles. Among the most appealing deals, there's a $15 discount on the Echo Input so you can bring Alexa to any regular speaker or audio system for just $20. If you'd rather buy a smart product from the get-go, Amazon is taking some dollars off most of its Echo line-up.
Now that renders have shown what the G8 ThinQ will look like, LG has revealed more about the upcoming flagship that will be unveiled at MWC. The new handset will feature a time-of-flight sensor, which is expected to offer fast and precise facial recognition.
There are cases when content can't be embedded into an application, such as a credit card payment verification, and developers need to direct users to an external page. They can do this by using the device's default browser, WebView, or Chrome Custom Tabs (CCT) depending on their need. None of these are ideal in terms of user experience, however, as they would either have limited functionality or show the site's URL on the screen. Google is looking to solve this with the introduction of Trusted Web Activities (TWA), which are essentially full-screen web pages integrated into an application, without displaying the URL or other browser-related interface elements.
Whether you're thinking of setting up a smart home infrastructure or improving your existing one, now is a good time to do so. The second generation Echo Show, Amazon's new assistant with a 10" screen and upgraded built-in speakers, is currently down to $179.99 instead of $229.99 and comes with a free Philips Hue bulb.The revamped device features a more pleasant design with better sound and a bigger screen that lets you see your to-do lists, calendar events, weather forecasts, as well as watch shows, movies, and live TV. Thanks to the Echo Show's integrated camera, you can make video calls to people on Skype or friends with an Echo Show, Echo Spot, or just the Alexa app on their phone.
Valentine's Day is coming up and you still don't know what to get your significant other? Think no more; Google has you covered with bundles and special deals on the Pixel 2, several connected home devices, and accessories.
Connected devices have made my life a lot easier by automating tasks for me, such as turning on the heater when it's too cold or lighting up my living room before I get home. Smart plugs are one of the most convenient ways to achieve this, as they're easy to set up and work with virtually anything: I use them to control floor lamps, aroma diffusers, electric heaters, and even my Christmas lights. The main drawback with connecting almost everything at home is the price, as these devices are usually expensive, but thanks to an impressive 40% drop, you can get Amazon's Smart Plug for less than $15. This is a great bargain as the plug usually sells for $25 and hasn't been discounted for less than .
It's great that more and more vehicles ship with Android Auto these days, but I still find the app offering to be rather limited. I had to wait until last summer to finally get to use Waze instead of Maps, and even today only a handful of software is available on Google's in-car solution – beyond Waze, Spotify's the only other Auto-supporting app I use. Several other third-party music applications are integrated with the system though, and the famous Poweramp player is the latest one to make its way into your car.
Thanks to iRobot's Roomba and Braava automated cleaners, floor caring is effortless and can be initiated by telling Alexa or Google Assistant to vacuum or mop. The same privilege is coming to the outdoors with the Terra, iRobot's new autonomous lawnmower, which will make grass trimming as painstaking as speaking to a smart speaker or pressing a button.
Samsung Electronics just published its 2018 financial results, and the figures are not looking good. Compared to Q4 2017, sales went down 20% and profit dropped 29%. The overall performance for the year has slightly progressed compared to 2018, though, with revenue up 1.75% and operating profit growing 9.77%. The Korean conglomerate's mobile division is the one with the worst realization, as both revenue and profit have decreased, comparing quarter to quarter and year to year.