Latest Articles
Google's new Motion Photos might have flown under your radar when it was announced last week in the context of the Google Clips, but that's not surprising—there was a lot going on. Since then, we've reached out to Google for more information and, combined with our own hands-on, we've got a good understanding of what goes into a Motion Photo.
Today Wells Fargo announced that over 5,000 of the company's 13,000 ATMs support NFC for card-free access. Wells Fargo customers can now initiate an ATM transaction with little more than their phone and PIN, no card required. This is in addition to the one-time access code ATM system deployed earlier this year.
August Home initially announced its new Doorbell Cam Pro a few weeks back, but as of today, it's now shipping. Whether you pre-ordered one after the announcement, or you're only just starting to consider a smart doorbell, now you won't have to wait to pick one up. This new 'Pro' model also has a few new features worth considering over the original Doorbell Cam.The Doorbell Cam Pro has an integrated flood light to better capture video at night, which can be used as a deterrent via motion detection. It has a new feature called HindSight, which records video before people approach as well as after, even if they don't end up pressing the doorbell.
The age-old tradition of rooting Samsung's latest flagship continues. In this case, it's the Galaxy Note8, and it took developers about a month. For some perspective, that's much less time than we had to wait for root on the Galaxy S8 and S8+. Based on this progression, I predict that the next Samsung flagship should be rooted just a bit before it is released. /s
If there's one thing our readers love more than phones, it's a phone giveaway. And if there's one thing they like more than that, it's an international phone giveaway. Huawei and Android Police have teamed up to give one lucky reader, from anywhere in the world, a Mate 9. Whatever far-flung destination you have in mind, Huawei's phone is up for the trip. And once it's there, you can even use it to enter into the Huawei Museum photo contest.
We've all heard the phrase "jack of all trades, master of none," and there's a distinctly negative connotation to it. The more something tries to do, the worse it is at any one task. Unfortunately, it still holds true today. But some products, like this one, are starting to toe the line.ASUS' latest Chromebook Flip C101PA combines performance with excellent build quality in a convertible package. So not only do you get a great Chromebook, to a certain degree, you also get a good Android tablet. And it will only cost you $299 — and a somewhat disappointing screen.The updated C101 was originally teased back in May at Computex, but ASUS kept radio silence on the subject until just last month, when it announced that this latest revision of the 10" Chromebook Flip would be available for pre-order.On the surface, the new Chromebook looked much the same as the one it was replacing, however it has a couple small but significant improvements. Although the C101 isn't without its problems, the new machine is better than the already great model it replaces. In short, the ASUS Chromebook Flip C101PA is probably the best 10" Chromebook you can buy right now. And, with Android apps, it's even a pretty decent tablet.
What if there was an app that got you half-off food at some of the best restaurants in town, and all you had to do was place an order earlier in the day, and pick it up a bit later than usual? Well, there is, and it's called Food for All. Even better, the grub you grab was destined for the trash can, so you get to feel good about helping decrease food waste too.
This has been an exciting week. Now that the dust has settled from Google's event on Wednesday, we've been digging into the details of each product a bit more, and there's a lot to look at.
IFTTT, the popular web-based automation platform, recently added support for three new services. The new additions to the service are Remember The Milk, Asana, and WeatherFlow smart weather stations. I guess that means you can set lightning strikes recorded by your WeatherFlow weather station to trigger Asana tasks for your employees which, upon completion, add a Remember The Milk reminder to follow up on the lightning strike tomorrow. Ah, the future.
When pre-orders went live during the Google event last week, there was a bit of confusion regarding the free Home Mini you get for purchasing a Pixel 2. Google has recently updated the listing for the Pixel in the Google Store, and it's started emailing some extra information to those who made a purchase. Free Home Mini promo codes associated with a Pixel 2 pre-order will be emailed within 4 weeks after the phone ships.
Manufacturers are gearing up to bring Android 8.0 Oreo to devices, but we frequently forget that there are plenty of them still being sold right now that haven't had a taste of Android 7.0 Nougat. Up until just recently, Verizon and T-Mobile's Samsung Galaxy Tab E were among the devices stuck on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. But now those of you with carrier-branded units can enjoy all the features Nougat brings. This applies to Verizon 9.6" or 8" models, as well as the T-Mobile 8" model.
You might remember our intermittent coverage of Android Automotive — not to be confused with the near-identically named Android Auto. The (really) short version is that Android Automotive is a full Android implementation in a car, rather than just a dumb projection of your phone. And, according to the folks at XDA, Google might be building an emulator for it in the Android SDK.
Google's new Pixelbook looks kinda slick. I think the chances are pretty high that I'm going to grab one. At least, if the keyboard on it is any good. But there are a lot of places to pre-order the new Chromebook up outside the Google Play store. For your convenience (and mine, later) we've put together some of the spots you can pick it up into a nice little list.
I'll be honest, I'm having trouble keeping track of the distinction Google seems to be trying to make between "Apps for the Google Assistant," "Actions on Google," and the Google Assistant. I get that the ambiguous double name for the former expands the capabilities of the latter for developer use. But, frankly, the difference in marketing seems entirely unnecessary and overly confusing, both for consumers and for myself.
The focus of today's announcement might have been the new Pixel phones, but Google also had a nice little surprise that accompanied all the hardware-related news. At the bottom of the blog post for the new Pixel phones, Google revealed that it has a new program called "made for Google" which certifies that accessories like cases, cables, and headphones from different manufacturers meet the company's stringent requirements.
With these two new Pixels announced, it would appear that we need a new Daydream View to go with them. It's the same Daydream View we've known and loved for the last year — with the same name, even — but including a small number of improvements. The all-new Daydream View has better lenses, new materials, and three new colors. And, it's even got a new (higher) price. The new headset will set you back a slightly-increased $99.
Read update
In a tweet posted just earlier today, Verizon's CMO Diego Scotti confirmed that Google's upcoming Pixel devices, to be announced today, are going to be exclusive to Verizon, just as they were last year. So if you were hoping to pick up either phone from another carrier, you're probably out of luck.
Last year's Pixel was found to be one of the best all-around smartphone cameras. In fact, according to Google, Pixel users take 2x more photos than iPhones, on average. The camera tradition looks to have continued with the latest series of Pixel phones. Of course, you all know what we think about DxOMark. But even so, it appears that the Pixel 2 scored an incredible 98 overall, making it the best phone camera (again) it's ever reviewed.
Read update
- It would appear that the countries previously listed aren't correct. According to this help page, the new phones are only currently available in Canada, Germany, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, and the United States. There's no word on when availability for the other countries listed in the presentation will begin. The list of countries in the article has been changed to reflect this.
Ready to spend some cash on the latest hotness? The page to order the new Pixels directly from Google is now live. You can pick up both the Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL in both unlocked and Verizon flavors and multiple color and size configurations. As of now, all combinations appear to be available, so if you had a specific combo in mind, get to ordering.
As part of today's announcement, Google revealed the new Google Clips, a tiny camera equipped with Moment IQ machine learning meant to capture "motion photos," from "unique perspectives." It automatically chooses which moments to record. I'm at a bit of a loss to determine a use-case for it, though.