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Earlier this week it the FCC agreed to allow Verizon to start locking the phones it sells for 60 days following activation. As you should expect, this will only affect phones purchased from the carrier, those that bring their own phones won't be affected, and that got us to thinking: Where do our readers get their phones? In North America, carrier subsidized phones are still very much a thing, though some other markets we know of prefer outright/unlocked purchases. So how did you get your current phone?
Reviews for the Pixel 3 and 3 XL landed just earlier this week on Monday, with the earliest among us getting shipping notifications just yesterday. That means those that popped for overnight handling have already started receiving their brand new Pixels. In the same vein, the Pixel 3, 3XL, and a handful Pixel 3 accessories over on the Google Store have all also swapped over from "pre-order" to "buy."
If you're big into vinyl (records), then you probably recognize the name Discogs. If you aren't, it's a music marketplace for cataloging your collection and buying new albums. And, today, Discogs has released a beta that allows you to make purchases from inside the Android app itself.
Google has just started to roll out Google Lens, the company's new AI-powered image search. Simply take a picture of something, and Google's incredibly advanced algorithms will try to figure out what it is and give you search results for it. eBay has now added a similar (but less advanced) function to its mobile apps.
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.
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- 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.
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The LG G6 was officially revealed nearly a month ago, after virtually every aspect of the phone was already leaked. If you're planning on buying it, you can now secure a pre-order from Verizon, AT&T, and Best Buy.
There isn't a person reading this site that hasn't already heard of eBay. The site has been around since the 90s and allows folks to buy and sell stuff all over the world. Now the company is working on a service that lets people sell exclusively in their local area. It's called Close5, and it's now available for Android. Unfortunately, most of us can't use it just yet.
People talk on Twitter, they crack jokes, they share pictures, and they even try to sell things. Just as users used to have to link out to images before the service started offering that service natively, users will soon be able to make purchases without having to hop out to another site. Twitter is currently testing a feature that will embed a buy button directly into tweets.
For some reason, it seems that streaming music is the new hotness in the world of tech firm acquisitions. Today, the New York Post reports that Google is eyeing the acquisition of Songza.
A few days ago, Google added a line of official snap cases to the Play Store for the Nexus 5. Some readers may be yearning for a closer inspection of Google's late-entry accessory, which - at first glance - looks a lot like the myriad cheaper options available online, so we're going to give it a quick look.
Verizon is perhaps the most intimidating fish in the sea of US cellphone carriers (okay - it's more of a pond). Now the Big Red is in talks to buy Vodafone's 45% stake in the company for $130 billion, and signs suggest that this deal could be completed within a week. If this goes through, it will mark the closure of a deal Verizon has wanted to secure for years.
Google Supposedly Snaps Up Aggregator Wavii In $30 Million+ Acquisition
Wavii, a service that promises to help you "keep up with everything you care about" has been snapped up by Google, according to Tech Crunch, for a sum
Wavii, a service that promises to help you "keep up with everything you care about" has been snapped up by Google, according to Tech Crunch, for a sum totaling over $30 Million.
HTC One With Free Car Dock Now Live At T-Mobile.com - Order Yours For $99.99 + $20/Month Or $579.99 Lump Sum
The HTC One page just went live at t-mobile.com, so if you've been lusting after what David called the most important phone of 2013 (read his review to
The HTC One page just went live at t-mobile.com, so if you've been lusting after what David called the most important phone of 2013 (read his review to understand the reasoning behind such a bold statement), you can finally secure the Glacial Silver version online. It doesn't look like the Stealth Black variant is up yet if you were looking for one of those, but on the upside T-Mobile is throwing in a free car dock with the purchase. Not a bad deal.
In what seems to be a fairly arbitrary move, Google has trimmed the fat from the Play Store's Nexus 7 cover selection. The lineup, which formerly included pink, light blue, and gray, has been cut down to just the light blue color in the US, with the pink cover variant appearing outside the US. The gray cover has been axed completely.
Now that we're acquainted with the new Nexus family, many users are beginning to make plans to pick up one, two, or potentially all the new additions to Google's flagship product line.
We've seen a lot of news surrounding Samsung's Galaxy Note II in the past 24 hours, from T-Mobile's official launch all the way down to Lebron James' custom Note II cover. We've got one more piece of news before the day's done though – pre-orders for the Note II's AT&T and Verizon variants have just gone live.
[Deal Alert] Samsung Galaxy Note II (T-Mobile) Goes Live At Wirefly.com For $279.99 On Contract
Samsung Galaxy Note II Goes Live At Wirefly.com
Samsung's latest flagship – the Galaxy Note II – which we've so far only seen on video and in international markets, is finally (officially) headed to States-side carriers, with AT&T beginning pre-orders and Sprint and T-Mobile officially launching the device today.
Earlier today, Amazon announced a slew of new Kindle products: a refreshed 8GB Fire, brand new 16/32GB Fire HD 7" and 16/32GB Fire HD 8.9", including 32/64GB LTE-enabled variants, and a Kindle Paperwhite which doesn't run Android. The pre-order links weren't working right away, but they've just gone live, and I have them all for you right here.