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Google began a Material Theme refresh of its desktop search UI last fall comprising tweaks all users see now, including a search "box" with rounded corners, more white, and a persistent search bar. The next step may be nigh, as the search engine is testing the addition of Material Theme icons that sit beside each search menu filter (e.g., News, Maps, Images, etc.) and are colorized when their corresponding filter is active.
We've heard of phones taking potato photos, but phones being mistaken for a potato-based breakfast food is another story — one that now exists. A man in Connecticut spent his own money and 13 months of his life to prove in court that a police officer gave him a $300 distracted-driving ticked for merely eating a McDonald's hash brown while at the wheel. On Friday, a judge found Jason Stiber not guilty, bringing an end to what the defendant's attorney called "the case of the century."
The Samsung Galaxy S9 is now relegated to the shadows of the newer S10, but it still has enough going for it to be a strong consideration for anyone looking to purchase a well-spec'ed smartphone without spending ludicrous amounts of money. The S9 is currently available for $400 from Best Buy with an activation at purchase or for $500 without any activation requirement from that retailer and others. The larger S9+ is also available for $500 from Best Buy with activation or for as little as $574 without any activation from various retailers.If an activation at purchase works for you, look no further than Best Buy's current deal. The unlocked 64GB version of the S9 (SM-G960U) is available for $400 with a Sprint activation ($450 with AT&T) at the time of purchase, which is $200 less than the standard retail price. Without an activation, Samsung's smaller flagship from last year can be had for $500 from Best Buy, Samsung, Amazon, B&H Photo, and Walmart which is still a $100 discount.The unlocked 64GB version of the S9+ (SM-G965U) can be had for $500 from Best Buy with a Sprint activation ($550 with AT&T), $200 less than the full retail price. Without an activation, Samsung's larger flagship of yesteryear is available for $600 from Best Buy, Samsung, B&H Photo, and Walmart; and $574 from Amazon.The S9 offers a 5.8" 1440p Super AMOLED display (no hole punch), a Snapdragon 845 chipset, 64/128/256GB options for storage, 4GB of RAM, a microSD slot that can hold up to 400GB of additional storage, a 12MP main camera, an 8MP front-facing camera, IP68 water resistance, a 3,000mAh battery, and fast charging. The S9+ upgrades the size of the display to 6.2", the size of the battery to 3,500mAh, RAM to 6GB, and the camera on the back of the phone with an added telephoto lens.The offer is for a limited time only according to Samsung's website, so act quickly if you're interested. Availability of storage sizes, colors, and versions of the phones included in these discounts varies by retailer (B&H Photo, for instance, offers even bigger discounts on international versions of the S9 and S9+), so be sure to confirm the final price once you pick your desired configuration of the S9 or S9+.Source: Best Buy (S9, S9+), Samsung (S9, S9+), Amazon (S9, S9+), B&H Photo (S9, S9+), Walmart (S9, S9+)
It's been nearly seven months since Nova Launcher v6.0-beta 1 was released in early August 2018, and now it's time for the stable version to hit the masses. TeslaCoil Software began rolling out v6.0 stable of its popular custom launcher to the Play Store yesterday, and it comes with a fairly lengthy list of enhancements and new features. If for some reason you still don't see the latest version of Nova in the Play Store, APK Mirror has the cure for your impatience.
Here in the US, Google Pay is widely supported, and for that we're grateful. In international markets, support isn't always as easily found, but the list of partner banks is ever expanding. Over the past month, we've noticed that Google Pay has added support for a number of new banks for a handful of countries around the world, opening the door for even more consumers to enjoy the ease of using the payment platform to make in-store, in-app and online purchases.
If you have a smartphone or tablet with a microSD slot and have been itching for a deal on a 512GB card, this could be the day you finally pull the trigger. The PNY Elite 512GB microSD card, which was introduced in June at $349.99, is down to an all-time low price of 9.99 (that's $200 off) on Amazon today only. This beats the pants off of the $239.99 deal we saw back in December.The PNY Elite 512GB complies with Class 10/U1/V10 standards, which means it has a minimum sequential write speed of 10MB/s, though the card maker notes that it can support maximum transfer speeds of up to 90MB/s. With 512GB of storage, this microSD card can hold up to 80 hours of full HD (1080p) video recordings or 100,000 photos at 18MP. Media storage and playback will work decently, but look for a higher-class card if you're thinking of running apps off it.Speaking of which, today's Amazon Deal of the Day also includes the PNY Pro Elite 512GB microSD card for 9.99, which is $100 off the usual price. This card, which was announced last month, complies with Class 10/U3/V30 standards, which means it has a minimum sequential write speed of 30MB/s. PNY says it can hit up to a 100MB/s read speed and a 90MB/s write speed. It also has an A2 app performance class, which means it's capable of storing and running mobile apps decently enough.These are just two of today's Amazon deals on PNY products. Look at the full list to see discounts on USB 2.0 and 3.0 flash drives, a 240GB 2.5" SATA III internal SSD, and more. As of the time of publishing, there's less than 15 hours left before these deals expire, so act soon if you're interested.Source: Amazon
By now everyone should know that two-factor authentication via SMS is outdated and insecure. But in case anyone needs a reminder, here it is: Metro Bank in the UK was recently the victim of something called SS7 attacks, which basically allow anyone with access to reroute text messages and calls as they please, as well as track the location of a compromised phone. This is far from the first time this has happened, and it seems European banks are more at risk than US banks.
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- As Marcelo notes in a comment below, Samsung has uploaded the English version of the video to its official YouTube channel today. Here it is:
There's already plenty of anticipation for Samsung's foldable smartphone, but there's nothing like a briefly uploaded YouTube video to stoke the flames a bit. It seems that Samsung Vietnam mistakenly uploaded a teaser video showing off a handful of already-here and concept technologies, including a brief glimpse of a handsome foldable phone. But before you get too excited, there's reason for skepticism here.
The days when third-party battery-saving apps were necessary to hit a satisfactory number of hours off a single charge are long behind the vast majority of Android users, thanks to improvements like Doze and Adaptive Battery. But in some cases, this measure of progress has become something of a Pyrrhic victory, with useful background processes carelessly destroyed and developers taking the brunt of user ire. Well, the Urbandroid team — the gang behind apps Sleep As Android, Twilight, and others — doesn't plan on going quietly into the night. In fact, they're going on the offensive with a new informational website where the most flagrant OEM offenders are shamed and users and developers are educated.
Samsung's C-Lab (Creative Lab) program launched in December 2012 to encourage the conglomerate's employees to indulge their creativity by working on outside-the-box projects. At CES 2019, which will take place January 8th-11th, 2019 in Las Vegas, the C-Lab will show off eight of its new AI-related projects. They run the gamut from zany (a smartphone case to record ASMR content, anyone?) to mundane (a monitor stand that tries to sneakily improve your posture at work).
Misery loves company, and Essential has just bought some. CloudMagic's eponymous email app was once a pretty appealing offering with an unbeatable price tag of free. That was before it was rebranded as Newton Mail and had a hefty $49.99 annual subscription fee slathered on it in September 2016. As you can guess, that didn't go over very well, and Newton Mail was officially put out of its misery on September 25th. Now Essential, a startup with a not-so-glamorous trajectory of its own, has acquired CloudMagic. The financial terms of the deal are unclear.
You'll have a tough time finding a wireless security camera setup that beats Netgear's Arlo Pro 2 bundles. As with most top-of-the-line products, the Arlo 2 usually costs you a pretty penny, but Amazon is selling the two-camera pack for just 8 right now. That isn't exactly cheap, but it's $102 less than the usual asking price. We'll save you a few precious seconds and tell you that this comes out to $189 per camera.In Ryan's review of the Arlo Pro 2 back in July, he praised the updated line's battery life (several months off a single charge), 1080p sensor, local-storage capabilities, and plan pricing. On the flip side, the nighttime video quality, slow wake-up time when on battery power, and the less-than-ideal app were among the bummers.The two-camera pack currently being sold at a discount on Amazon includes two Arlo Pro 2 cameras, two rechargeable batteries, one base station with a built-in 100-decibel siren, two wall mounts, a power adapter and cable, an ethernet cable, a window decal, and a quick-start guide. The Arlo Pro 2 setup is compatible with Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and IFTTT.This is within a few dollars of the lowest price observed for the two-pack (which was available for a spell four days ago), according to CamelCamelCamel. Amazon is offering the discounted two-camera pack with Prime shipping. There's no telling when this deal will expire, so act quickly if you're interested.Source: Amazon
The Nokia 7.1 looks primed to bring some swagger back to the mid-range smartphone game, particularly in the US. Even still, the quality of the photos and videos captured with the device isn't likely to knock your socks off. But a steadier hand and some reliable lighting should help. To that end, if you pre-order a 7.1 from B&H, you'll also get a free photo/video kit worth $65, which is about 19% of the phone's $350 price tag.
Huawei is proud of the fact that the P20 Pro sits atop the DxOMark Mobile rankings. The company attributes that feat in large part to its Master AI feature, which basically detects scenes via the viewfinder in real time and adjusts camera settings accordingly. In theory, it's a nifty innovation; in reality, the results are mixed. Huawei has apparently received enough unfavorable feedback about Master AI to compel the company to disable the feature by default in its latest update for its flagship smartphone.
The Google Home Max was announced last October and went on sale in December, just in time for last year's holiday season. Since then, the pricey smart speaker has mostly kept steady at its $399 launch price, but now a number of retailers are knocking $50 off that number, bringing it down about 12% to $349. Supplies are scarce at some of these places, and this price may not be around for too long.
If you own a Samsung Galaxy Note8, you may soon have a bit less envy for those who bought the latest-and-greatest Note9. A recent update for last year's Note device brings AR Emoji and Super Slow-Mo video capabilities to the camera, along with the September security patch. It's worth noting that as of now, this update seems to have rolled out to only some Note8 phones running on the Exynos 8895 chipset.
As someone who's expecting his first child later this year, I've already begun to drown in a sea of endless research about baby products. It's not all that bad, of course — it's a bit fun discovering all the innovative, tech-infused products out there. One that I didn't know about until now was Owlet's Smart Sock 2, which is a different kind of baby monitor. You can get one of these smart socks for $239.99, which is $60 off the original price (a 20% discount). There are only a few hours left on this Amazon Deal of the Day.The Smart Sock 2 is pretty much what it sounds like: a sock that you slip onto your infant's foot to monitor his or her heart rate and oxygen levels via the Owlet Baby Care app. The selling point here is that rather than limiting themselves to just visual and audio monitoring, parents get a more detailed look at their infant's current condition.A base station comes with the sock and glows green when all is well. The smart sock connects to it via Bluetooth, and Owlet promises a range of up to 100 feet. The sock fits infants 0-18 months old, or anywhere from 6-25 pounds. The company suggests alternating the sock between the baby's right and left foot each night. Each unit comes with three hand-washable socks.Even at $239.99, it's a bit steep for my tastes, though I won't deny that I'm mighty tempted to splurge. The Owlet Smart Sock 2 is Prime eligible and can be returned for a full refund within the first 45 days. The deal expires in about 4.5 hours, so act now if you want one. But if you miss out, don't worry: It appears that the Smart Sock 2 goes on sale every now and then.[EMBED_YT]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKNtjE3HCGw[/EMBED_YT][EMBED_APP]https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.owletcare.owlet[/EMBED_APP]Source: Amazon
If you're a Gboard user who has recently been frustrated by your glide typing yielding a bungled mess, take heart: you're not alone, and you're not going crazy. Google has confirmed that it's aware of the bug affecting its virtual keyboard and is on the case. In the meantime, there's a simple fix that users may already have stumbled upon.
Google's latest update for Gboard brings support for 28 new language varieties, including two German dialects, Finland Swedish, and Tahitian. With this round of additions, Google's virtual keyboard now supports a grand total of 446 language variants on Android.
Back in December, Netflix was running what appeared to be a server-side test of a refreshed UI featuring a bottom navigation bar. Now it seems Netflix is rolling out the new interface to some of its beta users, and we finally have an APK download to share too.