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Tech NewsGadgetsHow to Use Google Home or Amazon Echo to Control What’s on Your TV
Your smart speaker is getting smarter—and part of that involves taking over what’s on the big TV screen sat in the corner of your living room. You can buy Google Homes and Amazon Echos with screens built-in, but here’s how to use them with a separate display, whether you want to watch movies or see … Continued
By David Nield -
ReviewsThe New Dell XPS 13 Is So Good, You Can Almost Forgive Its Dumb Webcam
Dammit, I like the Dell XPS 13 again. I never hated it—the laptop is too good to inspire hatred (though the placement of the webcam, which only seems to capture your chin in videos, comes close). But despite great battery life and a design that created an industry standard, the XPS 13 has been really … Continued
By Alex Cranz -
Tech NewsGadgetsNew Leak Suggests Fitbit’s Next Smart Watch Will Actually Be Attractive [Updated]
Fitbit may make some of the best, and easiest to use fitness trackers out there, but when it comes to smartwatches the company makes big bold eye sores. However, according to images acquired by Wareable, the next Fitbit smartwatch, expected early this year, could be…. not ugly? On Monday during it’s earnings call Fitbit told … Continued
By Alex Cranz -
Tech NewsGadgetsAsus Basically Made a More Affordable iPhone X Ripoff with Android
While better known for its various PCs and gaming products, Asus has been making smartphones for quite some time. Over the previous four generations of Zenfones, Asus had always skipped the world’s largest smartphone trade show, MWC in Barcelona. The reason? According to Asus’ head of global marketing Marcel Campos, “[We] just weren’t ready.” But … Continued
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ReviewsSmartphonesThe Essential Phone Finally Makes Sense
The Essential Phone was supposed to be the one. Envisioned by Andy Rubin, the father of Android itself, and expertly crafted from a luxurious combo of ceramic, titanium, and Gorilla Glass, the PH-1 had the kind of pedigree you rarely see from a startup, let alone one that was trying to put out its first … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsHere’s How to Get Android Apps Running on Your Laptop
It makes more sense than ever to put some Android apps on you laptop. As well as giving you access to apps that have no desktop or web equivalent (like Snapchat), it’s great for playing games on the big screen—we got Alto’s Adventure up and running on the Pixelbook with no problems, and plenty of … Continued
By David Nield -
Tech NewsAppleApple’s Next iPhone X Could Be Gigantic
We might not just get a new iPhone X this fall. Apple reportedly has two additional new devices planned: A big phablet that borrows design elements from the iPhone X and might be called the iPhone X Plus, and a cheaper phone that sacrifices some of the iPhone X’s premium features to make it more … Continued
By Harri Weber -
Tech NewsGadgetsCan Nokia’s Breezy New Sirocco Phone Stand Up to Samsung’s Mighty Devices?
As slick as the designs on the Galaxy S8 and the brand new S9 are, some people just can’t get down with all the changes Samsung makes to Android on the inside. It’s an understandable complaint, especially since just a few year ago, Samsung’s TouchWiz skin (which is now called the Samsung Experience), was often … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsSony’s New Buds Have Holes in Them for Your Own Good
How many times have you seen this: A guy or gal walking down the street with one earbud in, while the other hangs loose around their shoulders and neck like some ridiculous techie bolo tie. If you’re like me, it’s a daily occurrence, and a sad symptom caused by design that doesn’t quite work. Sure, … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsSony Is Getting Serious About Smartphones Again, and It’s Great
You wouldn’t know it, because Sony never seems to have brought its phones to the US until well after the fact, but not too long ago, Sony was a force (at least design-wise) in the smartphone world thanks to devices like the OG Xperia Z and the innovative Xperia Play. It was making cool looking … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsAlexa and Cortana Will Duke It Out in the Update to the Best Laptop Under $1,000
Alexa already dominates a ton of living rooms and kitchens thanks to Amazon’s huge line of Echo smart speakers. But there’s still one major category of devices Alexa has yet to conquer: PCs. However, at CES 2018, Amazon announced that Alexa would be making its way onto computers too. That brings us to now, at … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsCanon’s Next Flash Is Trying to Be Idiot-Proof
Using a flash is what separates photographers from people who got a good camera deal on Black Friday. Flash photography can be hard. There’s light theory and mathematics at play. Use a flash incorrectly and the images you’re making are often uglier than if you’d never used a flash at all. Canon’s hoping its new … Continued
By Alex Cranz -
Tech NewsSamsungHere’s What Is Actually New About the Samsung Galaxy S9 [Updated]
When a delayed launch left an S8-sized hole at Mobile World Congress last year, the start to the spring smartphone season felt a little so-so. Samsung wasn’t going to make the same mistake again, so here it is, the new Galaxy S9 and S9+. At first glance, the S9’s appearance might suggest that not a … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsNokia’s Latest Retro Revival Is Making Me Crave Bananas
Some folks have started to take exception to companies that rely on people’s nostalgia to peddle their tech. But that ain’t stopping Nokia. Last year at MWC, Nokia (which isn’t really Nokia anymore, but HMD Global) revived it’s iconic brick phone, the 3310. But for 2018, Nokia is going one step further by bringing back its … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsHuawei’s Matebook X Pro Is a Slick Challenger to the Very Best Windows Laptops
In the laptop world, Dell’s XPS 13 gets a lot of credit for having a great design, excellent battery life and that nifty Infinity Edge display that started the trend of slimmer bezels on laptops. But what most people don’t know is that the laptop with the thinnest bezels in the world isn’t a Dell, … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsPhones This Cheap Shouldn’t Look This Good
Look, it’s hard to give a shit about budget phones. They often sport uninspired designs, lack any sort of innovative features, and frequently cut corners to hit those low, low prices. And with previous phone names like Pixi, Pop and Idol, Alcatel’s previous phones seemed more concerned with the latest saccharine teen singing sensation than … Continued
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Tech NewsGoogle
Google Just Pushed Out a Bunch of Updates for Three of Its More Promising Android Features
Just a couple days before the world’s biggest smartphone convention kicks off in Barcelona, Google is rolling out updates for a number of its most interesting Android features. The first of which is Google Lens, which will finally be available inside the Google Photos app over the new few weeks to all English-language Android users … Continued
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io9Toys & Collectibles
Poop Is a Really Popular Kids Toy This Year
Poop should not be a trend. Nevertheless turd toys were everywhere at Toy Fair this year. But it wasn’t all fecal fare. Boogers, farts, and pimples were all the subject of toys appropriate for kids too. As toymakers can’t seem to stop pushing the limits, we set to find the grossest toys we could. Below … Continued
By Alex Cranz -
Tech NewsGadgets
It Sure Looks Like Nokia Is Blowing It Again
There was a time when Nokia was the undisputed king of cellphones, with quarterly sales of over 120 million units as recently as 2010. But after a failed partnership ended with Nokia selling its handset division to Microsoft, the company tried reinventing itself by pivoting to wearables, a move capped off when Nokia bought Withings, a … Continued
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Tech NewsAppleGo Update Your Apple Devices to Fix the Telugu ‘Text Bomb’ Bug Now
What started out as a seemingly simple bug turned into a real hassle when people figured out it was possible to crash iMessage, Twitter or even the Wi-Fi app on Apple products by inserting a single character from the Indian language of Telugu. And once an app had crashed, it would keep crashing forever until … Continued