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[Deal Alert] Google Store back to school sale kicks off with Pixel, Home, OnHub, and other discounts
Summer is about halfway done, and since time immemorial that's meant at least one thing: back to school sales have begun. The Google Store is no different from other retailers in that regard, and starting today you can pick up a Pixel with a free Daydream View starting at $524 (up to $200 off, a crazy value), a Google Home for $109 ($20 off), either OnHub router for $99 ($30 off), the LG Watch Style for $199 ($50 off), and a free Chromecast Audio with a Google Wifi 3-pack. It's at least possible that little Johnny's grades will be improved by your new phone, right?
Earlier this week Amazon took some of the low-budget manufacturer BLU's phones off the retailer's digital shelves, following allegations that BLU had included spyware in its products. It seems to have been a false alarm, though, as today BLU has announced in a tweet that Amazon is back to stocking its phones. Customers looking to pick up a cheap and capable phone can again purchase them at the US' biggest online merchant. [EMBED_TWITTER]https://twitter.com/BLU_Products/status/893596903048347650[/EMBED_TWITTER]Regardless of the original allegations, there's certainly more to the story, as BLU claims to have disabled the offending features in its phones. In a press release pushed out earlier this week, BLU argued that, after being notified by security firm Kryptowire of the data collection problem in 2016, the functionality was disabled from the offending Adups OTA application. Furthermore, it promises that all future BLU products will use Google's GOTA instead of Adups OTA.Amazon's knee-jerk reaction was likely a result of Kryptowire's announcement at the recent Black Hat security conference, in which the researchers alleged BLU only replaced the offending software with "nicer versions" that continued to infringe user privacy. At its worst, the data being collected included "Browser history, call log, text message metadata (phone number with timestamp), IMEI, IMSI, Wi-Fi MAC Address, list of installed applications, and the list of applications used with timestamps.” BLU's recent changes may have trimmed that list down a bit, though.It could be that the devices examined were running older versions of the Adups OTA software. But either way, Amazon seems to have determined that they'd like to continue selling the BLU phones again. Interested parties looking to pick up an inexpensive phone at Amazon can again scratch their budget-phone itch with BLU's products.Source: Twitter
If you can remember as far back as yesterday, you might recall that OnePlus rolled out OxygenOS v4.5.8, an update that was mostly identical to but slightly less buggy than the preceding 4.5.7. The headlining feature in both versions was a new EIS (electronic image stabilization) feature for 4K recording, a detail that was considered a significant omission by some reviewers. Fortunately for OnePlus 5 users everywhere, the EIS looks to be pretty fantastic.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google has approached some publishers to participate in a new project allegedly called "Stamp," a portmanteau of "Stories" and their existing AMP service. The new "Stories" would be units of visually-oriented news, comprised of a series of slides including text, photos, and video. If that sounds a lot like Snapchat's Discover or Facebook's Instant Articles, you'd be right.
A commit made yesterday to AOSP has revealed two juicy pieces of news. The more interesting thing is also the one we know the least about: somewhere there is a device named "dorado," and we have no idea what it is. The second and more immediately understandable tidbit is that Google is adding touch support to the AOSP recovery.
Some of you may remember when Google rolled out their Preview Program for Chromecasts last year, which allowed the intrepid to try new firmware releases before they were officially ready for public consumption. Well, users of the Google Home will be able to opt-in to a program of the same name, too. If you are the adventurous early-adopter type to give it a try, prepare for a future of pre-release excitement.
Today Google rolled out a minor change to the Google Wallet site. Now you can request money in bulk from up to five people at once. So the next time you need to split an expense with your buddies, or just shake down your friends for cash, you'll be able to save a tiny bit of time. The feature doesn't seem to have hit the Android App yet, but I would imagine it will eventually.
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- It looks like 4.5.7 had some problems and got pulled. But, 4.5.8 has all these same fixes and features, but presumably without whatever problems halted deployment. This new update should be rolling out soon. If you want to download it early, the same process described above should work.
One of the bigger drawbacks reviewers noticed with the OnePlus 5 was the lack of image stabilization when recording video in 4K. Well, as of today that's one problem the OnePlus 5 doesn't have anymore. Right now a staged rollout is progressing for OxygenOS 4.5.7, which brings with it EIS for 4K recording (which looks amazing), as well as a handful of bug fixes, optimizations, security patch updates, and a new font.
Those that frequent the land of French roasts and baristas to get their caffeine fix can now save a few extra seconds each day. The Starbucks app for Android was just updated, and among the recent changes is fingerprint support. So the next time you log in or reload your balance, it could be as easy as a single tap.
If you missed this deal the last time we saw it (as many of you did), not only is it back, but it's now slightly better. Over at the popular daily deals site Woot you can pick up the Rachio smart sprinkler controller in both the 8 and 16 zone varieties for just $144.99 and $174.99, respectively. It turns out that, in addition to flying electric cars, the future also includes well-manicured lawns. Our own Artem has one of these. It's pretty obvious when a product upsets him, but when it comes to his 2nd gen Rachio, he's been somewhat vocal about his pleasure. That may as well be a resounding endorsement.With one of these, you can set custom and detailed watering schedules for your home sprinkler system. It's even intelligent and connected enough to know when it's raining, so as not to waste water on an already moist lawn. So not only will it save you a few bucks on your watering bill, but you can be secure knowing it's set to perfectly maintain your lawn. And you can make adjustments anywhere, anytime, from your phone or laptop. It even has Alexa, Nest, and IFTTT integration.If the Rachio isn't quite to your tastes, the Blossom 7 Zone controller is also pretty cheap over on Amazon, at a mere $93.44.If being slightly lazier for better results when it comes to yard maintenance sounds appealing, the joy of home automation can be extended onto your lawn, too. Just be sure to grab one soon, as the Rachio deal is set to leave at the end of the day.Source: Woot
In a blog post today, Google has revealed that it has made some changes in how the company's search and discovery algorithms work. Now things like performance problems, crashes, and overall jank are considered when ranking apps. This is great for consumers, as it encourages developers to pay closer attention to the quality of experience their products present.
Today the popular paid email app Newton Mail for Android was updated with a new feature called Tidy Inbox. Much like Google's Inbox, it automatically sorts emails into categories. That way insignificant messages from social media or promotional subscriptions don't bother you, but you are still notified of important content. Coupled with Newton Mail's extensive application integration, the new tool is sure to boost productivity.
Today Verizon has opened up a new rewards program for its customers. It is meant to replace the company's older Smart Rewards program, which also ended as of today (though points remain valid for use until November). The new system is called Verizon Up, and it's a very different kind of rewards program.
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Google just pushed a minor revision to the Google Voice app for Android, bringing it up to v5.3. Nothing huge appears to have been changed, but there is one small but useful new feature. Now long-pressing on a message brings up an option for multi-selection, rather than just a menu for simple actions pertaining to a single message. So the next time you need to mass-delete messages sent to your Google Voice account, it won't be quite such a tedious affair.
Some of you might remember the Contextual App Experiences talk at I/O this year. The seemingly convoluted name actually held some pretty big news, as it was during that talk that Google revealed its plans to refresh the Nearby Connections API. That set of APIs is used to provide communication between your phone and other things in physical proximity to you, further expanding your ability to share info and data locally. Well, as of today version 2.0 of that API is now available, bringing new features for developers.
After the company's first experiment with an organized Pokémon Go festival didn't go so well, Niantic looks to be trying to delay some of its future events. Three of the company's planned festivals in Europe have been postponed. If you were hoping to catch some 'mon in Copenhagen or Prague on August 5th, or Stockholm and Amsterdam on August 12th, you're now out of luck.
If you are all about that bass (at least as applied to music) and you happen to be looking for a bluetooth speaker, then this deal is for you. Over at the popular daily deal site Woot you can pick up a NYNE Bass portable bluetooth speaker for a mere $69.99. This particular deal slid under our radar until now. But, if you are interested, there are still a few hours left to snag one. Like most Woot deals, this one is set to expire at the end of the day.
Just after Google pushed out the new personalized Feed this past weekend, reports for problems started to roll in. It would appear that some users are having problems with dismissing items in the new layout. Swiping to dismiss cards in the Feed isn't working for everyone.
Earlier this year EasilyDo released a new app for Android, with the descriptive name 'Email.' It was basically a feature-clone of Google's Inbox for non-Gmail accounts, giving you the same intelligent mail sorting, package tracking, travel bundling features on your third party accounts. It is a popular application. And, today EasilyDo is changing its name to Edison, and 'Email' will now be known as Edison Mail.
Most of our famed Deal Alerts tend to be for commercial products, but this one is a bit unique. Udacity, a provider of so-called "Nanodegree" certificates in computer science subjects, is offering discounts for certificates in Android development in the next two days. So if you've always wanted to work in application development, and if you think you can handle the workload that such an education will provide, you can get 50% off your first two monthly tuition payments if you sign up by tomorrow.