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You'd have to be living under a rock not to know what the Galaxy S10 is going to look like at this point. A very big rock. In the 359th GS10 leak so far this year, we get a look at the Ceramic white phone next to the Prism White model.
How to have a party, according to JBL: Step one, buy this giant portable Bluetooth speakers (there is no step two). You can now complete step one thanks to the launch of the PartyBox 200 and 300 in the US. For a couple hundred dollars, you can get a mammoth, glowing speaker to haul around and start parties. The promo video makes it look pretty easy.[EMBED_YT]https://youtu.be/i-00mq5V2qo[/EMBED_YT]The PartyBox 200 is the cheaper of the two models, starting at $379.95. The PartyBox 300 is a bit more expensive at $449.95. Both speakers have a pair of 6.5-inch woofers with three 2.5-inch tweeters. They support wireless stereo, USB, RCA, and there are even inputs for mic and guitar. They also have LED light effects because why not?The only difference between these speakers is how portable they are. The PartyBox 200 needs to be plugged in, but the 300 has a 10,000 mAh battery that's good for about 18 hours of playback. It's not that much more expensive, so that's probably a sensible upgrade. You can get the speakers from JBL, Amazon, or B&H. See below.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is still one of the most expensive phones out there, but deals are starting to appear. If you act fast, Amazon will sell you a 512GB Note 9 with a free tablet for $1,049.99. This deal is good today only.You probably know all about the Note 9 at this point—it's Samsung's current top-of-the-line until the Galaxy S10 shows up in a few weeks. It has a great OLED display (no notch), an S Pen stylus, and a larger battery than past Note phones. The 512GB version started at $1,250, but it's dropped down below $1,000 in recent weeks.
This deal adds a Galaxy Tab A for about $50 more. The Tab A is a 10.5-inch tablet with Snapdragon 450 and a 1080p display. It's probably fine if you just want to watch videos. By itself, this tablet retails for $230. The bundle is $170 cheaper than buying these two devices by themselves. You get your choice of blue, lavender, or black for the phone. The 256GB is also available with the tablet bundle, but you're only saving about $50 versus buying both devices individually.Buy: Amazon
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Everyone is currently obsessing over the impending Galaxy S10 launch, but there's another Samsung device on the horizon: a smartwatch that may be called the Galaxy Sport. A new leak purports to show off the upcoming wearable, and it's a bit of a departure for Samsung. It's smoother and rounder than past Samsung watches, and there's no rotating bezel.
[Update: Google lets app stand] Google and Apple under fire for hosting Saudi app for tracking women
Technology is supposed to make life easier, but that's not always the case. For women living in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, smartphones have made it harder to escape from abusive families and a social system that restricts their choices. Now, activists including Human Rights Watch are calling on Google and Apple to pull an app published by the Saudi government that helps men keep track of women and prevent them from leaving the country.
Pushbullet was one of the first apps that successfully made your Android notifications more accessible and useful. With Pushbullet, you can sync notifications to other devices, reply to messages on your PC, and so much more. Development of the app slowed down over the last couple of years, but Pushbullet comes roaring back today with a major update. There are various design changes based on material theming, easier navigation, new icons, and more.
Arlo announced the Arlo Ultra 4K camera system late last year, and we got a closer look at the cameras during CES in January. Arlo needed a hit after a disappointing fourth quarter, but the Ultra cameras aren't off to a great start. Best Buy has apparently halted sales of the cameras following negative reviews and customer complaints.
High-wattage USB-PD charging is, thankfully, becoming the norm for laptops, phones, and other devices. It's easier to get replacement charger you know will work properly, but the hardware can be expensive. Aukey has a well-reviewed 46W charger on Amazon, and it's a real bargain today.Aukey's charger supports 46W output via the USB Type-C port with Power Deliver 3.0. That means it can fast charge devices like the Pixel 3, Pixelbook, and Nintendo Switch at full speed. There's also a USB-A port with a maximum of 10.5W output, which is how Aukey gets to the total 56.5W output. It's a bit bulky, but the prongs fold in.
This plug usually costs $35 (down from $44 list price), but you can knock another $10.85 off the price today. Just use coupon code IX4QKCI2 at checkout. That brings the price down to $24.14, and there's free Prime shipping.Buy: Amazon
Motorola enjoyed massive success with the original Moto G phone. It came along at a time when reasonably priced unlocked phones were virtually non-existent, but the Moto G was soon joined by other low-cost devices. The value proposition has weakened over time as those other low-cost phones crowd the market, but the G-series has largely carried Motorola. The company didn't even bother to launch a full-fledged Moto Z flagship phone in 2018—the Z3 was a Verizon-exclusive phone engineered merely to plug into the still-unreleased 5G mod.
You are no longer stuck with a few Google-branded speaker options if you want to invite Assistant into your home. There are speakers from JBL, Sony, and many others—including Marshall. The updated Marshall Stanmore II speaker launched recently, and it looks like a feasible alternative to Google's best-in-class Home Max. It combines classic Marshall styling with modern voice assistant features, but it comes with a steep $400 asking price.The Stanmore II is a good speaker—far better than most Assistant speakers. However, the Home Max is still the king of this product category by a comfortable margin, and it's the same price. The Alexa version of the Stanmore II speaker is on Amazon for $50 less, and it has the same competent sound quality. If you're not married to Google, that one is a better purchase.
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Brand partnerships are usually the least interesting part of a phone announcement, but Samsung's latest phone unveiling comes with some serious drama. The company's new Galaxy A8s announcement included the surprising announcement of a partnership with Supreme in China, where the company has not operated in the past. However, it's not the "real" Supreme; it's the fake Italian firm that has been such a thorn in Supreme's side.
ZTE had a pretty rough 2018 thanks to the US Commerce Department's decision to enforce a suspended export ban against the company. That cut ZTE off from its US-based suppliers, resulting in an almost total shutdown. ZTE agreed to additional corporate changes and paid a new fine to get back in business, but it hasn't launched any new phones on carriers in the US until now. It's first post-shutdown carrier phone isn't exactly a showstopper, but you can get a new ZTE device right now on the Visible.
Sony has never been a top Android phone maker, but it's been trying for a long, long time. As the smartphone market plateaus, Sony is losing money on mobile quarter after quarter, and the most recent one is no exception. While Sony overall made money at the end of 2018, the mobile division is still a loser.
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Samsung started rolling Android 9 Pie out to some variants of the Galaxy S9 across the globe this month, but scant few phones in the US have the update. That changes today with the Verizon variant, which is getting a taste of Pie as we speak.
Gboard already has support for a huge number of languages, but Google still manages to add more every few months. Today, Gboard is adding support for 50 more languages including Alur, Limbu, and Northern Hindko. You probably haven't heard of any of these, but more people can use Gboard in their preferred language today.
The movie industry wanted to create a universal online locker for digital content when it announced UltraViolet in 2010. The service has limped along for years, but the movie industry is finally reading the writing on the walls. UltraViolet will shut down on July 31st, and shocker, this convoluted DRM scheme makes it confusing to retain access to your purchased content.
It's easy to find yourself buried in remotes as you seek to build the perfect home entertainment system. Logitech's Harmony remotes have long sought to reduce the clutter, but they're spendy. The flagship Harmony Elite usually costs a whopping $350—you can get a TV for that price. It's $100 cheaper right now, and Best Buy will even throw in a $50 gift card.
The Google Arts & Culture app started as little more than a web wrapper, but Google has added new features and given it a UI overhaul since then. There have been some fun camera-based tools like the artistic doppelganger ID and color matcher. Now, there's a new camera tab that puts them all in one place.
Like it or not, headphone jacks are getting harder to find on smartphones, and that makes your wireless headphones more crucial than ever. There are some compelling true wireless options out there, but you have to spend big to get features like low-latency, Type-C charging, and long battery life. As the technology improves, we're finally starting to see some compelling budget options in true wireless—for example, the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air. For a mere $80, these earbuds offer an experience that's almost a match for products that cost twice as much. If you can make a few small compromises, they're an incredible deal.
Setting up a new Chrome OS device is a breeze compared to almost any other operating system. Your browsing data, extensions, and even Android apps sync down in a flash. The exception is Linux apps, which only live on a single piece of hardware. That could change as soon as Chrome OS 74 thanks to the inclusion of native backup and restore for Linux containers.