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Thursday, August 31, 2017
Sanbot's Alexa-integrated robot can livestream, order takeout
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T-Mobile will announce its next major Uncarrier move on Sep. 6
T-Mobile will be making an announcement 'you don't want to miss.'
T-Mobile will be revealing its next Uncarrier move on September 6. The teaser video for the upcoming event is deceptively vague — with CEO John Legere carrying a script titled "Un-carrier Next" — but the video description says that T-Mobile is "going to flip the wireless industry" on its head.
T-Mobile switched on its 600Mhz network last month, with the LG V30 the first device to sport Band 71. The company also rolled out its latest self-branded device, the REVVL.
There's no indication as to what T-Mobile will be targeting with its next Uncarrier move, but Legere dropped a few hints during last quarter's earnings call, saying that the carrier will fix a "gigantic shortcoming:"
If I announce the topical area that we think is gigantically poised for fixing, it may give away too much as to what the topic is. But there's one that we're working on that we'll do this quarter that is so intuitively obvious of a gigantic shortcoming of the wireless industry that we're going to attack it, and we're going to attack it soon.
The Un-carrier Next will kick off on September 6 at 8 a.m. PT/11 a.m. ET, and you'll be able to watch the livestream here.
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Xiaomi's upcoming phone in India will be the first in an all-new series
Xiaomi could unveil its first Android One phone in India next week.
Xiaomi is all set to introduce a new phone in India on September 5, and teasers from earlier this week hinted at the Mi 5X, which sports the same dual camera setup as the flagship Mi 6. However, it looks like that won't be the case, as Xiaomi has confirmed in a new tweet that the upcoming phone will the first device in an entirely new series.
The possibilities are endless and it begins with #FlagshipDualCamera! What could it potentially be? http://pic.twitter.com/KJklWHzut2
— Mi (@xiaomi) August 31, 2017
A rumor from last month suggested Xiaomi was working with Google over an Android One device, and given that the company's upcoming event in India is being dubbed a "Xiaomi global launch," we could see the first Xiaomi phone powered by stock Android.
The Android One theory gets stronger when you consider that the device — allegedly called the Xiaomi Mi A1 — is based on the Mi 5X, sporting dual cameras at the back. With the launch set for next Tuesday, we don't have to wait long to find out what Xiaomi has in store.
What do you guys think the upcoming phone will be?
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Samsung gets DMV's OK to test autonomous cars in California
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Spotify's head of video and podcasting leaves the company
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Amazon’s latest drama ‘Tin Star’ premieres September 29th
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Facebook will use AI to help correct skewed 360-degree photos
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Paranormal thriller 'Oxenfree' teased for Nintendo Switch
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Twitch streamers will soon customize their page with new tools
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Nintendo ordered to pay $10 million in Wii patent lawsuit
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Parallels makes Windows apps work with your MacBook's TouchBar
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The Star Wars Jedi Challenge is AR-awesome and all I want is more
I got to be Rey and it was so great.
They say that greed and desire are the path to the dark side. I don't care.
I want to get my hands on the Star Wars Jedi Challenge that Lenovo and Disney have cooked up. Now. I got a brief demo with the Jedi Challenge after its unveiling at IFA 2017 and I think that it and AR games like it are definitely part of the future of gaming.
The Jedi Challenge is a multi-part system built around your phone (iPhone or Android, Lenovo's not picky). Your phone serves as the processing unit and display, oriented facing down over your eyes and reflected into your eyes off an angled transparent pane. The headset in which your phone is slotted is more than just a holder for the phone — it has a pair of fisheye cameras on either temple which pick up the light on the end of the lightsaber hilt (styled after the Skywalker family blade, naturally) and light on the floor slightly larger than a golf ball. The lightsaber also has motion tracking built in and communicates to the headset via Bluetooth, and the headset relays all of this positional data to your phone via a wired connection (cables are included to connect to Micro-USB, USB-C, and Lightning-equipped phones).
It all comes together surprisingly well. The projected AR lightsaber blade lines up quite closely with the IRL lightsaber in your hands, you swing and it tracks very closely, and when you move around the space everything tracks with you. It's an impressive set-up, especially for the $199 price tag.
I only got to try a brief demo of a lightsaber training battle against a holographic Kylo Ren, who was doing quite the number on me before I got a handle of how the training was supposed to work (in this scenario, you light up your lightsaber blade with yellow bands projected across the display to block his swings, and then attack when he's highlighted). This was just the first glimpse of what Jedi Challenge has to offer, with Disney and Lenovo building multiple worlds for ongoing training and battles, and even non-training materials like the classic holographic chess from the Millennium Falcon.
Pre-orders for the Jedi Challenge will go live in September, with units shipping to eager padawans in early November — just in time for the holiday shopping season, but more importantly in time for the next Star Wars movie (you heard about that, right?)
Often times it seems like VR, and especially AR, is missing that "killer" app that'll be something to bring it into the mainstream. With the multi-generational appeal of Star Wars, the low barrier of entry of "you have a phone", a thoroughly entertaining experience, and (perhaps most importantly) the marketing dollars of Disney behind it, Jedi Challenge might be that killer app.
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Second ‘Battlefield 1’ DLC deploys on September 19th
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Windows 10 Fall Creators Update may arrive on October 17th
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We wish 'Destiny 2' looked as good as this live action trailer
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The Wirecutter's best deals: Save $30 on a Ring Video Doorbell
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Microsoft unlocked 1080p Mixer game streaming on Xbox One
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Sparc: Everything you need to know!
Playing video games has never been such a workout!
Sparc is a brand new, competitive sports game that seems to have jumped out of Tron and into your PlayStation 4 system. The aim of the game is to chuck a ball at your opponent and hit them, but with angles coming into play, the ability to block, shields, and even curveballs, there is a lot here to parse. We've got the details on all of it for you right here!
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littleBits' Droid Inventor Kit teaches kids tech with 'Star Wars'
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The smartwatch market is actually performing pretty well
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Google breathes new life into old Android Wear watches with new Play Store policies
Changes will promote standalone apps for your watch.
Google has announced two major changes for Android Wear apps: Multi-APK apps are now supported for Android Wear 1.0 watches and requirements for the "Enhanced for Android Wear" Play Store badge have changed.
Multi-APK apps are apps hosted in Google Play that have separate files for your phone and your watch. Previously, only Android Wear 2.0 watches supported multi-APK apps, but now users with older watches like the Samsung Gear Live will be supported. Multi-APK apps are designed to save space on your phone because the files are smaller, and watches with their own data connection can run them without being tethered to the handset.
The second announcement covers the Play Store policy for apps to receive the "Enhanced for Android Wear" badge and placement in the store listings. Starting today, apps that fall into the following categories will no longer be eligible for the Android Wear badge consideration:
- Mobile apps that support Wear notification enhancements but do not have a separate Wear app
- Wear apps that are bundled with mobile apps instead of using multi-APK
The announcement also points developers towards the assets they need to convert their apps into multi-APK listings.
While we don't see daily news about Android Wear, it's great to know that the platform is active and Google is taking steps to make it even better. Wearables have proven to be a tough market for every company making them, but great hardware like the LG Watch Sport will allow for even more innovation and the future will have computers on our wrists.
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House cancels net neutrality hearing after companies don't commit
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This $39 30000mAh portable charger will keep your smartphone powered up for days
The Thrifter team has another deal -- this time on a gigantic battery charger down to a great low price!
The Aukey USB-C 30000mAh portable charger is down to $38.99 with code AUPOWER8. This charger has predominantly sold for around $50 since its release earlier this year. Aukey releases a lot of coupon codes, which can be hard to track, but there have not been a lot of direct price drops on this charger ever before.
Aukey's charger comes with two USB ports, including a Quick Charge 3.0 port, in addition to a USB-C port. The 30000mAh charge means it could ideally charge an iPhone 7 nine times before needing to refuel. That's a lot of juice in one device. It can charge a Nintendo Switch while playing, slowly charge a 12-inch MacBook, and it works with Android devices too.
The charger comes with a two-year warranty.
More from Thrifter:
For more great deals be sure to check out our friends at Thrifter now!
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Garmin Vivoactive 3 hands-on: More than just a running watch
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Alexa's new kid-friendly skills have a layer of parental control
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Haunting 'Abandoned Places' float in digital space
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The best tech deals that you don't want to miss out on
Our friends at Thrifter post some great deals every day, and here are the best ones available right now!
From mobile phones to general tech, home goods and much more, the team at Thrifter is scouring the web every single day to find the best deals. Whether something hits a new all-time low, gets discounted for just a limited time, or has a new coupon code available for it, you won't want to miss out any of them. If you want to know about the deals as soon as they are happening, you'll want to follow Thrifter on Twitter, and sign up for the newsletter, because missing out on a great deal stinks!
So, what are the best deals that you should be looking at right now? Well, let's take a look at them so you can see which ones are best for you!
OTA HD Antennas - Starting at $5.50
Cutting the cord is becoming more popular, but not everyone is ready to give up local channels as part of the process. This is where OTA HDTV antennas play a critical role, but picking the right one can be a cumbersome task. Stop stressing over which one to order, and give one of these Paper Thin HDTV antennas a shot.
Monoprice is currently offering up a selection of slim antennas for as little as $5.50. To get the discounted pricing on these antennas (options listed below), you will need to use coupon code PAPERTHIN. Often times, deals are negated by expensive shipping costs at Monoprice, but that isn't the case here. Right now you can save not only on the antenna itself, but you also get free standard shipping.
Kobra OBD2 Reader - $14.39 (Normally $19.99)
No one likes seeing their check engine light pop on, and it's even worse when you don't know what the cause of it is. Sure, there are some places that will scan your car for free to tell you what's up, but most of them charge for the service. Stop throwing money away having your car scanned, and start doing it for yourself.
Right now you can pick up Kobra's Wireless OBD2 reader for just $14.39 with the coupon code 83ZIWPVF. This is a savings of nearly $6 from its regular price, and one of the best features of it is that you can connect it right to your smartphone to decipher the cards.
Nerf Lawbringer Blaster - $17 (Normally $39.99)
Get the Nerf Doomlands Lawbringer Blaster for $17 at Walmart. Normally, this Nerf gun sells between $30 and $40 on Amazon.
You'll need to order with in-store pickup because you'll be charged $6 in shipping for an order under $35. If you're going to order $35 worth of stuff, you can get the blaster for even cheaper at Jet.com where it's $14.89 with the code PEOPLEKIDS. Both retailers have a $35 free shipping threshold, but only Walmart has the in-store pickup option.
More great deals!
- Chipotle BOGO Coupon - FREE!
- Amazon Dash Wand - Free after activation credit
- 10.5-inch iPad Pro - 549.99 (Normally $649.99)
- Essentials Racing Style Gaming Chair - $50 (Normally $125)
- VicTsing Bluetooth Speaker - $23.99 with coupon VN9KSUY6 (Normally $37)
For even more great deals, and to see these discounts as they become available, be sure to check out our friends at Thrifter now!
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Moto X4 is official: 5.2-inch display, dual cameras and glass back for €399
It's time welcome back the Moto X line.
Motorola just filled a gap in its smartphone lineup, reviving a brand that hasn't been used in a couple of years to add the much-anticipated Moto X4 to the ranks. Slotting in between the Moto G and Moto Z series, the Moto X4 is launching in Europe at €399, and will be available in September.
More: Moto X4 hands-on preview
For that modest price tag, you get what initially looks like most other Motorola phones, with the added bonus of a nice glass back covering on the opposite side of a 5.2-inch 1080p display. The frame conceals a 3000mAh battery, full IP68 water resistance and a headphone jack to boot. Not bad, Motorola.
It isn't a flagship, but we shouldn't have expected it to be one.
Internally things round out mostly as you'd expect: Snapdragon 660 processor, 3 or 4GB of RAM, and 32 or 64GB of storage (depending on market, as usual). That's all driving a near-identical build of Motorola's latest clean and fast software, which remains a crowd favorite no matter what hardware it's running on. Now, how about the camera? Well, there are actually two rear cameras: a 12MP primary, and 8MP wide-angle. You won't find OIS on either, but the primary camera seems promising with an f/2.0 aperture and rather large 1.4-micron pixels. The wide-angle, as we've seen on LG phones, should be fun.
Motorola is only announcing pricing and availability for the Moto X4 in Europe at this point (it is, after all, launching at IFA 2017 in Berlin), but has confirmed that the phone will come to the U.S. We don't know exactly when or for how much, but we know it'll be a model with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, for what it's worth. Given how pricing usually breaks down between regions, it's reasonable to expect the Moto X4 to come in at $399 in the U.S. — we sure hope it stays under the $400 level.
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Moto X4 specs: Snapdragon 630, 3000mAh battery and dual cameras
Here's what's inside the Moto X4.
Considering that the Moto X4 is more of a mid-range device, it doesn't have all of the highest-end specs inside. That's understandable, and when you look the spec sheet you'll still find plenty of good line items. One thing to keep an eye on is the regional differences in terms of RAM and storage — Motorola is still a bit confusing in what it offers in different markets around the world.
| Category | Spec |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Android 7.1 Nougat |
| Display | 5.2-inch IPS LCD, 1920x1080 (424 ppi) Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| Processor | Snapdragon 630 octa-core, 2.2 GHz Adreno 508 GPU, 650 MHz |
| RAM | 4GB (APAC) 3/4GB (EMEA) 3GB (NA, LATAM) |
| Storage | 32GB (NA, LATAM) 32/64GB (EMEA, APAC) |
| Expandable | microSD up to 2TB |
| Rear camera 1 | 12MP, 1.4-micron pixels, f/2.0, Dual Autofocus Pixel 2160p30, 1080p60 video |
| Rear camera 2 | 8MP, 1.12-micron pixels, f/2.2, 120-degree wide-angle lens |
| Front camera | 16MP, 1-micron pixels, f/2.0, selfie flash |
| Battery | 3000mAh Non-removable |
| Charging | USB-C Turbo Charging |
| Connectivity | 802.11ac dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0 BR/EDR/BLE, NFC GPS, GLONASS, |
| Headphone jack | Yes |
| Water resistance | IP68 rating |
| Security | One-touch fingerprint sensor |
| Dimensions | 148.35 x 73.4 x 7.99 mm 163 g |
| Colors | Super Black, Sterling Blue |
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Avoid motion sickness in VR with comfort ratings!
Here's how to avoid motion sickness in VR before buying!
Although many developers are trying their hardest to avoid motion sickness, it's still a huge problem for virtual reality. Even with accurate head-tracking, fully body experiences and specially designed games, some experiences just don't work out for those prone to motion sickness.
If you're one of the many who suffers from motion sickness, finding games that work for you is half of the problem. Here's how to find suitable games on your virtual reality platform!
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Moto X4 hands-on: Familiar name, entirely different phone
How much benefit of the doubt can a beloved name buy you?
Fans of Motorola, or just Android in general, typically look back on the Moto X series of phones fondly. Despite their issues, the few iterations of Moto X (the first two, in particular) still feel like the perfect example of what Motorola could bring to the Android world. "Moto X" was synonymous with being greater than the sum of its parts, and offering an experience that was wonderful despite not having the absolute latest specs and piles of features.
When rumors started to swirl of a return of the Moto X line, the hype was instantly ignited. For all of the success of the Moto G line and the ambition of the Moto Z line, Motorola fans just wanted a new Moto X — and hopefully, one that was a true continuation of what made its predecessors so intriguing.
So now, closing in quickly on the end of 2017, we have it: the Moto X4.
Moto X4 Hands-on video
For a quick live look at the Moto X4, be sure to watch our hands-on video above. We have the phone in-hand and in both colors, so it's worth a look! After that, read on for the rest of our impressions in the complete hands-on preview.
Moto X4 Hardware and features
Think of a Moto Z2 Play. Now add a curved glass back and a huge camera apparatus at the top — you now have a Moto X4. Sure that's a little reductionist, but not far off. Whether it's the increasingly iterative releases of Moto G devices, the lower-end Moto E line or even the top-end Moto Z2 Force, all of Motorola's phones look very similar visually. Particularly on the front, where you would be hard-pressed to differentiate at a glance between any Moto phone released in the last two years.
Even with a new curved glass back, the Moto X4 looks like any other modern Motorola phone.
With that front-on similarity across the lineup, the back is where the Moto X4 actually manages to stand out, if only a little bit. The pane of Gorilla Glass 3 coats the entirety of the back, curving off of the long edges just like most other glass-backed phones today. That curve isn't super dramatic in how much it cuts into the metal frame of the phone, but still provides much-improved ergonomics over your typical flat-backed Moto Z. The quality of the combination of glass and metal is far beyond what you'd expect considering this phone's €399 price — it felt indistinguishable from what Motorola is charging $720 for in the Moto Z2 Force.
The proper way to separate a Moto X4 from the crowd is to find one in this super-cool "Sterling Blue" color. The light textured pattern underneath the glass (present on both colors) really pops in blue, and it's matched up with a blue-tinted frame and blue surrounding the front of the phone. It's a fingerprint magnet and is honestly a little distracting on the front, but the way the colors shift and change from dark blue to a lighter shade and even to a light grey in some cases is very interesting.
With just a 5.2-inch display up front — a 1080p LCD, by the way — the Moto X4 certainly harkens back to its predecessors in terms of keeping compact and easy to manage in one hand. Coming in even smaller than the Moto G5 series, it's refreshing to have a phone you can easily swipe around and reach all corners without contorting your hand in some crazy way. At 165 grams it's heavy for the size, too, so you really get a feeling of a well-balanced and properly crafted phone.
Perhaps surprisingly, this lower-end phone also has two features the just-announced high-end Moto Z2 Force doesn't: a headphone jack, and compete IP68 water resistance. It also has a larger battery at 3000mAh — though it of course comes at the cost of being nearly two millimeters thicker than its high-end counterpart. That's a trade-off many people will be willing to take, particularly those who enjoyed a previous Moto X.
Moto X4 Software, specs and cameras
The software is what truly differentiated the first Moto X from the rest of the industry, bringing new features and a fresh take with a "less is more" strategy that we just didn't see back in 2013 and 2014. But now, Motorola has turned those core tenets into something you get from every phone it makes — and that means it just isn't all that special anymore.
But just because we're so used to Motorola's software experience doesn't mean it isn't still fantastic and a critical selling point of the Moto X4. It's clean, simple and includes just a few tweaks and additions that are useful without ever getting in your way. Motorola has fantastic ambient lock screen, a handful of gestures you will use every single day and a distinct lack of unnecessary or duplicate apps. It's just great, and it just works.
In my brief time (roughly an hour) using the Moto X4 in a demo environment, it seems like the Snapdragon 630 and 3GB of RAM will be more than capable of running Motorola's software on a 1080p display. And considering how well the Moto Z2 Play performs with very similar specs, I don't have any worries about the Moto X4 offering a great daily software experience — by mid-range or even flagship standards.
The Moto X4 also supports the exact same Amazon Alexa experience that debuted on the HTC U11 earlier this year. That is to say it's a software-only virtualized Echo on your phone — it can do just about everything the hardware can, including always listening for your voice commands. Amazon fans, rejoice. Everyone else, keep using Google Assistant.
Forgive me for choosing to be bearish on a Motorola camera.
For as good as Motorola's software is, its cameras have consistently been mediocre. The Moto X4 is doing something new, taking a page out of LG's playbook to go with a pair of cameras: one standard, one wide-angle. The secondary camera even has the same field of view as LG's last few wide-angle cameras: 120 degrees. It's in front of an 8MP sensor (1-micron pixels, f/2.2 aperture), while the main camera has much better specs: 12MP, 1.4-micron pixels, f/2.0 aperture and dual pixel auto focus. No optical image stabilization (OIS), though.
Testing a camera takes far more time than I was offered with the Moto X4, but it seems to have the components necessary to be a capable shooter. And seeing how little the secondary camera (and its associated blur effects) added to the Moto Z2 Force's cause, I'm happy to see the secondary wide-angle shooter here to give us a fun new way to shoot. But you'll have to forgive me for choosing to be bearish on a Motorola camera — it's lost the benefit of the doubt at this point.
Moto X4 Hands-on preview
If Motorola rolled out this exact phone with a different name, like "Moto G5 Premium" or something, nobody would blink. From front to back, inside and out, the Moto X4 just feels like Yet Another Modern Motorola Phone™. That doesn't mean it's a bad device, or not worth the money Motorola is charging here. To the contrary, actually — it looks like the Moto X4 is a really solid mid-range package with great hardware, most of the specs and features people want in this price range and a pair of cameras that may even be above-average. And it still offers that tried-and-true Motorola software that we all hold in such high regard.
The Moto X4 is arguably the best Moto X yet — but it sure isn't exciting.
But what the Moto X4 doesn't have is anything unique, intriguing or differentiating in the same way the Moto X lineage so often offered. In many ways that's the story of Motorola over the past couple years, but it just hits home a little heavier when we're talking about a Moto X. The Moto X4 is clearly a better phone, and better value proposition compared to the competition of the time, than any previous Moto X ever was. But that doesn't mean it'll go down in history as game-changing or industry-defining in any way.
I think we'll get over that desire for nostalgia, and just enjoy the Moto X4 for what it is: a really good phone at a compelling price, €399, with no clear shortcomings or issues. We can applaud that.
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