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Google's new Google Play Console, or the artist site previously known as the Google Play Developer Console, has been brought into the future. The console has been updated to feature an attractive new material design layout as well as the new name. It has been about a year since the last time we saw any major visual changes to the site, and it's good to see Google's keeping an eye out for their developers sense of aesthetics.
Not a fan of passwords? Microsoft yesterday announced a new feature for users of the Microsoft Authenticator app that allows the sign-in process on Microsoft accounts to be done using a phone instead. Users can link their phone with an account and receive an interactive notification after entering their username, allowing them to bypass the need to input a password.
Word has it that Lenovo's new Flex 11, an ARM-powered Chromebook featuring a 360-degree hinge, should be available sometime this month for $279. If the Samsung Chromebook Plus or the upcoming Pro (also expected to land this month) are a bit too rich for your blood, this might be a compelling alternative.
Paypal announced in early 2016 a desire to return to the idea of NFC payments in the wake of Apple and Google's success. Earlier this morning, PayPal announced the ability to link it to Android Pay, so you could at least use your PayPal funds over NFC that way. Now Wells Fargo has announced they're rolling out support for PayPal customers to link and pay using NFC. It looks like PayPal has NFC on the mind.
Facebook has released a whole lot of information from their latest F8 developer conference, and it looks like their drive to turn Messenger into its own platform for development is continuing full steam ahead. The conference started today and continues into tomorrow, but Facebook has already pushed out a number of press releases based on some of the things talked about there. Notable announcements include a Discovery tab in Messenger for finding more bots, QR code support, "Chat Extensions" that add bots into a group conversation, FAQ for bots, a VR demo, and more ways to use the M personal assistant.
I don't usually get super excited about deal posts, but this is a good one for one of my favorite phones. eBay has a sale going on the ZTE Axon 7 today for $330, which is a great price. The seller is even Newegg. Last time this deal was $350.
If you are interested in the tech behind the Galaxy S8 and S8+ (and have already read our own delightful opinions), then odds are you're excited to see what the device looks like on the inside. Thankfully for all of us iFixit has already ripped both their GS8 and GS8+ to pieces, so now you don't have to (unless you really wanna).
You're a cop — well, a security guard, but you act like you're a cop — working the beat for a low-brow North American airline. Standards have slipped over the years, your idealism long-worn away by the tough airline carpets. You're old and you're tired, and your eyes have grown equally tired exactly when they need to, if you take my meaning. You see what you need to see, and you do what you need to do in those long airport halls at night. Who else are they gonna trust, the TSA?
If your Google Wifi seems to be looking a bit blue these days — as in, the light is stuck blue — you might want to check to see if it's still actually functioning. The current build for it (9202.35.8) seems to be causing issues for some users.
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Hot on the heels of Simple adding support for Android Pay, we have another list of (smaller) banks that have stepped up to our preferred mobile payment platform. With the 35 and 9 added in February, the 51 in March, and at least 46 in January this is shaping up to be a big year for Android Pay.
For the socially-savvy, Instagram's new collections feature is bound to be a useful addition for de-cluttering your saved posts. Now, you can categorize each as you like with custom labels, making post-hoarding a much more organized endeavor.
This holiday weekend might result in some slightly disorganized photos. The automatically created "People" folders in Google Photos are disappearing for some people. At least now you'll have some kind of excuse not to have to show your great-aunt pictures of your kids egg-hunting.
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- Looks like recordings from that period are appearing back where they should, nothing to see here.
Shortly after bringing it back from the dead, it would appear that Google may have inadvertently broken call recording for a short period. For the last two weeks there have been multiple different user reports of problems with recording calls in Google Voice. Thankfully, the issue appears to have been resolved and recording is now working as intended.
The most nostalgic new entrant into the Android space has updated its ostensible flagship device—the Nokia 6 is starting to see a rollout for 7.1.1. The device launched with 7.0 in most markets, so it's nice to see it updated so quickly as other devices continue to chug along on older versions.
Much as you've been able to use Gmail on Android to check other services' accounts, Yahoo has responded by adding support for more third-party services in its own app. Yahoo Mail users can now check email on Outlook and AOL accounts, in addition to existing Gmail support.
Amazon has knocked $100 off the price of the black stainless Huawei Watch today, bringing it down to $250. Those looking for an entry into the world of Android Wear devices could do a lot worse.Just the launch price of the leather-equipped models was $350, so to pick up one of the more expensive metal-banded units at this price is a decent deal, and since it was $350 at Amazon just a few days ago that represents a 28% savings. It's not quite as cheap as one of the other leather styles has been for brief moments recently, but if you're interested in a metal band the first-party ones do match pretty nicely.
We noted in our review of the device that it was pretty snazzy. It's got a good design, sapphire AMOLED display, standard specs, and a heart-rate monitor. If the newer model doesn't quite appeal to your aesthetic sensibilities and you're after a round display in a simple package, then the Huawei Watch is probably near the top of your list anyway.The device is slated to receive Android Wear 2.0 at some point in the future. Although it was rumored for a short time to have NFC support that is emphatically not the case, so keep in mind that it won't have support for Android Pay as other newer devices with NFC do. Nonetheless, if you want a nice understated but nearly-fully-featured Android Wear device at a decent price, this is a good option.Source: Amazon
Fire TV Devices have started to be updated today with some new features, like new app recommendations, video quality, data alert, and data usage options. More fine-grain data awareness and control is surely to be useful for responsible content consumption.The big new features in this update are centered around data: data monitoring, video quality settings, and data alerts. You can see how much data is being used by different apps and services on your Fire TV device, even adjust how much apps like Amazon Video can use by changing the video quality, and be alerted when binge-watching The Expanse has burned through your monthly allotment — if you are so unlucky as to be on a capped connection. The precise instructions for setting up data monitoring and alerts, for those interested or unfortunately required, are available here.The update also brings some other features, like PIN protection for the Prime Photos apps and a new "Recommended by Your Apps" category on the home screen. The first is fairly self-explanatory, but the latter adds a new row on your home screen featuring advertisements for content available inside supported apps. Developers looking to take advantage of the new feature should take a peek here, but for consumers it basically just means that the same type of recommendations Amazon made previously, like showing you new books based on those you own, can now be made by other apps on your Fire TV. For instance, a news app showing you more articles, or a network television app recommending other shows to watch.This latest version is Fire OS 5.2.4.1. To check which version you are currently running or begin the updating process:
If you've been looking for a pair of USB A to C cables, you need look no further than today's Deal Alert: a 2-Pack of 6' Anker USB A to C cables. Although these particular cables are normally $20, today they're on sale for $12 with a promo code.These cables aren't explicitly Benson approved, but they are advertised as having the requisite 56k Ohm resistor to meet the USB-C power delivery specifications. As a result, even without his attention they're likely fine to use. There are certainly cheaper cables out there, but it's good to be sure that the ones you are using are safe. The risks of using a cheap cable aren't small.
The promo code for this deal is AK8166SD, and Anker is known for more reasonable quality than a lot of the cheaper generic cables that are usually discounted on Amazon. If you've been looking to drop a few more cables about your place for charging and data use, you could do a lot worse than these.Source: AmazonVia: SlickDeals
Is that the sweet sound of the FCC's auction hammer striking? After bidding closed March 30th it looks like T-Mobile has picked up almost half of the frequencies that were up for sale, acquiring big chunks of the 600MHZ spectrum for future LTE deployment.
Google has been rolling out a series of updates to its Image Search platform on mobile devices, and the latest addition includes tools to make coordinating outfits and researching fashion a bit easier. Now with 'Style Ideas' Google will show you a series of images related to the product in use.