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T-Mobile Posts 1.6M Net Adds For Q2 2018
T-Mobile has just posted its results for the second quarter of the year, which included 1.6 million net adds. That continues T-Mobile’s streak of adding over one million connections each quarter. Which now goes back over five years (21 quarters). There were one million total branded postpaid net adds, 686,000 branded postpaid phone net adds, and 91,000 branded prepaid net adds. T-Mobile is also boasting its record-low 0.95% postpaid phone churn rate, which is down 15 basis points year-over-year.
Deal: Dell XPS 13 9365 13-inch Convertible Laptop For $799 - August 2018
Woot is currently selling Dell’s XPS 13 9365 laptop for just $799. Now this is a factory reconditioned model, so it has been used, but Dell is still supporting it and offering a full warranty with this particular model. So it’ll be like brand new, but much cheaper. This particular model usually runs around $1300, so this is a really good deal on the XPS 13.
Deal: Jabra Elite Sport Wireless Earbuds For $139 - August 2018
Woot is currently discounting the Jabra Elite Sport Wireless Earbuds, bringing the price down to $139. That’s good for around $80 off of the regular price of these headphones, and it’s a discount you won’t see often. Additionally, these are not certified refurbished headphones, these are in fact brand new from Jabra. The Jabra Elite Sport Wireless Earbuds are a pair of truly wireless earbuds from Jabra, which do provide some great audio quality.
Deal: Buy A Samsung Galaxy S9, Get A Free Chromebook 3 - August 2018
Amazon is currently running a pretty impressive promotion for the Galaxy S9, which is geared towards the back-to-school season. Right now, you can get a Galaxy S9 for $719, and get a free Chromebook 3 from Samsung. So you are essentially getting a smartphone and a laptop for just $720, which is a really incredible deal. And perfect for back-to-school shopping.
VIZIO's WatchFree Update Adds Free Live TV To SmartCast OS
VIZIO today announced the launch of a new live TV streaming service, WatchFree. As the name suggests there is no direct cost associated with this service beyond the requirement of owning a VIZIO-branded TV in the first place. Therefore, this is being touted as a free service to VIZIO TV owners, and the TV maker has been able to achieve this by partnering with Pluto TV to provide the service.
Verizon Responds To Claims Of Coverage Misrepresentation
Verizon has now filed an official response to claims leveled against the company by the Rural Wireless Association (RWA), stating that its Mobility Fund coverage map is exaggerated in the Oklahoma panhandle region. The maps are a central component in the FCC’s proposed 4G LTE expansion and maintenance plan, which will provide around $435 million toward that goal annually for 10 years.
RED Hydrogen One Hits The FCC, Does Not Support Band 71
The RED Hydrogen One recently passed through the certification process of the Federal Communications Commission, more than a year after the tech firm initially announced the smartphone. The submitted test documents show that the device will support connectivity features like 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy.
Lyft Launches Challenge Highlighting A Car-Free Lifestyle
Lyft is reportedly launching a new challenge initiative this month in its Chicago service region aimed at incentivizing the use of ride-sharing and public transportation instead of driving. The challenge will be open to as many as 100 participants and the company is effectively asking users to completely give up their personal vehicle for a full 30 days. The reward for doing that will be $550 of credits for use with alternate modes of transport.
Facebook & Instagram Roll Out Tools To Use The Services Less
Facebook announced back at F8 – its annual developer conference – that it would be working on tools to make users spend less time on their platforms. Not because they want users spending less time, but to allow users to have a life, and do other things. This is a trend that Google and Apple had started at their developer conferences over the summer as well. Now, Facebook and Instagram’s tools are rolling out.
Study: Android Users Look At Their Phone 65.8 Times A Day
Android users tap their power button to access lock screen information or turn on their devices as many as 65.8 times per day on average, according to a new report from Strategy Analytics’ AppOptix subdivision. That works out to around once every eight minutes and approximately four hours of screen viewing time per day.
YouTube Dark Mode Is Reportedly Live For Some Android Users
Google has been promising a darkened YouTube theme since last year and now it seems to be delivering for some users on Android. For clarity, the mode is already available on the web and competing platforms but this appears to be the first time it is launching for the Android app. Now, some users are reportedly waking up to find the mode enabled and ready to go via a toggle in the app’s general settings.
JBL Now Accepting Pre-Orders For The Link View Smart Display
The JBL Link View is now available to pre-order directly from the JBL website. This is one of the first of the new ‘smart display’ product line (announced at CES) which looks to combine the Google Assistant voice assistant technology found in a number of devices with a display-focused product. JBL’s version is currently priced at $249.95 and is expected to start shipping out to those who pre-order starting from September 3, 2018, according to the JBL Link View product page.
YouTube Testing New Swipe Gesture To Move Between Videos
It appears that YouTube is testing a new gesture on its Android app, that is going to allow you to swipe from left to right to switch to a new video. This is something that Google+ user Joe Kelly found on his installation of YouTube and was able to do a screen recording of it – which is shown below. Basically if you swipe from left to right you can switch to the next video in the playlist or in the recommended list that appears below the description on YouTube pages.
Qualcomm & Apple Could Bury The Royalty Hatchet Due To 5G
Qualcomm and Apple have been embroiled in a high-profile dispute over patent royalties for several years now and while the Cupertino-based tech giant is now said to be prepared to ditch the chipmaker’s modems with the next iPhone generation and replace them with Intel-made modules, the duo is likely to eventually bury the hatchet, sources from Taiwan’s mobile component supply chains claim.
Samsung Kicks Off Reservations For Galaxy Note 9 Ahead Of Unveiling
Samsung has already begun allowing customers to reserve a Galaxy Note 9, even though the device isn’t set to be unveiled until next Thursday. Interested customers can head to the link at the bottom of this post, and reserve their Galaxy Note 9 now before the device is announced. Reserving it is not the same as pre-orders. Instead, you are just putting your name down, saying you are interested in the device when it is available for purchase.
LG Ready To Deliver OLEDs For 2019 Foldable Phones: Report
LG Display will have the technological capabilities to mass-produce flexible OLED panels for some of the world’s first foldable smartphones, South Korean outlet ETNews reports, citing sources close to the Seoul-based company. The firm is said to already be able to deliver display modules with a curvature ratio of 2.5R, though that figure should be closer to 1.0R come next year and hence be comparable to the capabilities of Samsung’s flexible OLED panels, sources claim.
Google Is Constructing A New Data Center In Singapore
Google has announced that it is building its third data center in Singapore. The search giant opened its first data center in the country back in 2011, and it constructed a second facility in 2015 to accommodate the rapid increase in the number of users in the region.
Sprint Promises 'Beautifully Designed 5G Phone' For 2019
Sprint Chief Technology Officer John Saw on Wednesday delivered a quarterly update on the company’s efforts in the wireless infrastructure segment, boasting of major improvements across the board, in addition to promising that the telecom giant will launch a “beautifully designed 5G phone” in the first half of the next year.
Facebook Is Redesign Its Navigation Bar To Make It More Personal
Facebook stated this week that it is looking to redesign the navigation bar in its app – on both Android and iOS – so that it is more personal to the user. The changes will show shortcuts for products that users use the most. Making it easier for users to use those products, without having to take extra steps to get there. Currently, there are five icons shown at the top, which did vary depending on the country. But in the US, it was the news feed, notifications, menu, Watch and Marketplace.
AMC Android TV App Now Available To Download
AMC has now made available a dedicated Android TV app on the Google Play Store. This is pretty much a replica app of the mobile version but one which will evidently be better customized and optimized for the Android TV experience. The app provides access to a variety of AMC original shows, a limited selection of movies, as well as some additional content.
Scientists Find A Way To Track Phone Users Via Touch Gestures
Scientists developed a way to track smartphone and tablet users based on the manner in which they touch the screens of their devices, having outlined their findings in a paper titled “Touch and You’re Trapp(ck)ed: Quantifying the Uniqueness of Touch Gestures for Tracking.” Published earlier this year, the research details a technique that allows for relatively accurate tracking of users across devices, regardless of the actual accounts they’re utilizing.
Samsung Launches Family-Friendly Galaxy Tab A 10.5 (2018)
Samsung on Wednesday revealed the 2018 iteration of its Galaxy Tab A 10.5 Android tablet, bringing all of the latest features to the table in a budget-friendly package simultaneously with the launch of the premium Galaxy Tab S4. As its model designation implies, this is a 10.5-inch device featuring a display ratio of 16:10 with a resolution of 1900 x 1200.
ASUS ZenFone 5Q Review: An Affordable Yet Capable Smartphone
With the ZenFone 5Q, ASUS has found a balance between price, specs, and features. ASUS has a habit of putting out many different variants of its ZenFone series, with the aim of having something available for every single niche. With the new ZenFone 5 line, ASUS has cut down the number of models it has, with essentially just the ZenFone 5Q and the Zenfone 5 (or 5Z in the US).
Invasion Of The Box People Brings Twin-Stick Action To Android
Invasion of the Box People is an extremely simple twin-stick shooter that can be most easily described as satisfying. The game starts out very easy, and gets chaotic and visceral very quickly on higher difficulties. The formula is dead-simple at its core, with a few different modes and power-ups peppered on to keep things interesting. The fluid animations and lightweight aesthetics pair very nicely with the feeling of power that the gameplay provides.
Turing HubblePhone Concept Reads Lips, Has Three Screens
Finnish smartphone maker Turing Robotics Industries is looking beyond its past failures and the current push toward dual-screen folding smartphones to a completely new multi-screen concept not slated for release until 2020. That two-year time frame is probably unavoidable because the device called the HubblePhone is not an ordinary design. Instead, it packs in three displays which can be manipulated into a plethora of configurations depending on use.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 With Full-Screen Design & DeX Announced: Everything You Need To Know
Samsung on Wednesday officially announced the Galaxy Tab S4, its latest series of Android-powered tablets meant to replace the Galaxy Tab S3 as the company’s most premium offering in the segment after 17 months. Besides a slew of expected annual upgrades in terms of hardware and processing capabilities, the Galaxy Tab S4 is also Samsung’s first tablet striving toward a bezel-less aesthetic that the company has been pursuing in the field of smartphones since early 2017 and the Galaxy S8 line.
Deal: Certified Refurbished Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus For $699 - August 2018
Amazon is discounting a certified refurbished Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus right now, bringing the price down to just $699. That is good for around $150 off of the regular price. This certified refurbished model is a Verizon-branded smartphone, but it is unlocked. So it will work on Verizon as well as GSM carriers, including AT&T and T-Mobile. The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus is currently Samsung’s flagship smartphone.
Deal: Amazon Discounts Refurbished Fire TVs, Echo Dots & More - August 2018
Amazon is now blowing out a ton of its certified refurbished hardware. This includes the Fire TV 4K, the Echo Dot, Amazon Cloud Cam and a few other devices. So not only are you getting some discounted goods, but they are even more discounted than usual. Making it a great time to pick up a new Fire TV, Echo Dot, Echo Show or something else for your home. The Amazon Fire TV 4K (the pendant design version) is priced at $39.99, which is $20 off of the regular price of the refurbished model.
Sprint Posts Another Profitable Quarter With 87k Phone Adds
Sprint on Wednesday published its consolidated financial report for the second quarter of the calendar year, i.e. the first quarter of its 2018 fiscal year, posting yet another quarterly profit and an unexpected wireless growth helmed by 87,000 postpaid phone net additions.
ZAGG Acquires BRAVEN From Incipio Group
ZAGG announced that it has acquired BRAVEN from Incipio Group, however the company did not mention how much it paid for the audio company. Incipio Group had purchased BRAVEN back in 2013, in an effort to expand its brand and products that it sells. Which makes it interesting that Incipio Group sold BRAVEN to ZAGG. In the press release issued yesterday, ZAGG mentions that the BRAVEN acquisition is going to allow ZAGG to extend its leadership position in the world of smartphone accessories.
512GB Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Model To Cost Over $1,200: Report
The most premium variant of Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Note 9 will cost over $1,200 in the company’s home country of South Korea, local media outlet ETNews reports, adding that the device will start at the equivalent of $980. The base figure is in line with last year’s Galaxy Note 8 lineup, with the 64GB model of that device retailing for approximately $950, depending on the market.
White House Names AI & Wireless Tech As New R&D Priorities
The White House named artificial intelligence and advanced wireless technologies as one of its R&D priorities for the 2020 fiscal year. The Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Office of Management and Budget co-authored a memo outlining that strategy on Tuesday, having also named national security, agricultural solutions, modern medicine, and energy as other fields in which the government is planning to invest moving forward.
HTC U12 Plus Update Brings New Camera Features & More
It seems like HTC just started pushing out a new update to the HTC U12 Plus in the US. That very same update hit Taiwan last month, and it will move your phone’s software to version 1.21.6173. This is not just an iterative update, though, as it includes some new features. Having said that, this update weighs 437.1MB, in case you were wondering, and it’s currently rolling out to US HTC U12 Plus models over-the-air.
Motorola Now Testing Android 8.1 Oreo For Moto G5
Motorola Now Testing Android 8.1 Oreo For Moto G5 Motorola reportedly started testing the Android 8.1 Oreo update for the Moto G5 earlier today, with the test build presently being available for download by Motorola Feedback Network members in Brazil. The current build should be identified by the version number OPP28.85-3 and since this is not a full-fledged public rollout, availability could differ from one beta tester to another and should expand gradually.
BlackBerry Teases Two New "Evolve" Android Smartphones
BlackBerry Mobile is gearing up for a new launch event taking place tomorrow, August 2, when the Indian branch of the company will be unveiling two new smartphones identified by the Evolve moniker. The OEM has shared a few teasers on social platforms including YouTube and Instagram ahead of tomorrow’s presentation, hinting that at least one of these two upcoming devices should be equipped with a physical keyboard.
Samsung Allegedly Canceled Gray / Silver Galaxy Note 9
According to a new report, the Gray / Silver color variant of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 seems to be canceled. The source claims that it is canceled, even though the information may not be 100-percent accurate. All in all, this rumor seems to be rather vague, but we’ll see what happens in about a week, as the Galaxy Note 9 will become official on August 9, Samsung had scheduled a press event in New York.
Parents Now Paying Gamers To Coach Their Kids In Fortnite
As the Fortnite craze continues, some parents have started paying gamers to coach their children in the popular battle royale game, The Wall Street Journal reports. Freelance Fortnite coaches earn between $10 and $20 per hour, helping their students level up and learn how to become better players in a wide variety of aspects, including map knowledge, strategy, and combat.
Galaxy Note 9 Hands-On Video Appears, Confirms Leaks
The upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 9 has just surfaced in a new video, Mobile Fun managed to get their hands on this video and have shared it online. The source says that the footage has been provided by their contacts in China, which means this is a Chinese variant of the device (Black model), and it is being used for screen protector testing. The provided hands-on video has a duration of about a minute and 13 seconds, and it is embedded down below for your convenience.
Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Camera Identical To S9 Plus: Rumor
The camera found on the back of the Galaxy Note 9 will be identical to the setup Samsung used for the Galaxy S9 Plus, known China-based industry insider known only by their Twitter and Weibo handle “Ice Universe” said earlier today. The source added that the upcoming Android phablet will use the same chip(s) as the Galaxy S9 series, which has already been widely expected given recent benchmark sightings and Samsung’s established product practices in the premium smartphone segment.
Google Improves Search To Support Data Journalism
Google announced a number of changes to its flagship product Search earlier this week, debuting them in the form of improvements meant to make data easier to discover. While everyone can benefit from the move, the newly announced tweaks have been specifically designed to support data journalism.
Huawei's 7nm Kirin 980 To Have New CPU, GPU, AI Chip: Rumor
The Kirin 980 system-on-chip from Huawei’s subsidiary HiSilicon will have a new CPU, GPU, and NPU, established industry insider from China known only by their social media handle “Ice Universe” said earlier today. The same source added that the company’s next Android flagship will feature a triple-camera setup, likely referring to the Mate 20 lineup of high-end phablets.
Facebook Discovers New Attempt At U.S. Election Interference
Facebook discovered a new coordinated attempt at U.S. election interference and removed 32 pages and profiles from its flagship social network and Instagram as a result of its findings, the company announced Tuesday.
LG V40 To Feature Google Assistant Button, POLED Panel: Rumor
The LG V40 may retain the physical Google Assistant button found on the G7 ThinQ, with the handset also being likely to feature a POLED panel with a QHD+ resolution of 3,120 by 1,440 pixels which implies the existence of a display notch. The new information comes from Android firmware files obtained by XDA Developers that relate a device code-named “judypn” to three model numbers – LM-V400N, LM-V405N, and LM-V409N.
Electronics Deals - August 1, 2018: KitchenAid, LG & Sony OLED TVs & More
Amazon has a couple of pretty good deals in its Gold Box today, which includes the KitchenAid KL26M1XER Stand Mixer, which is priced at just $219. That’s good for 44-percent off of its regular price, making it a great time to pick one up. Amazon also has the Dyson Ball Animal Upright Vacuum, which is a great pick up for those that have pets and want to make sure they can get all of the pet hair up out of the carpet in their home.
Samsung Promises 'Reasonable Price' For Galaxy Note 9
The Galaxy Note 9 will deliver “exceptional performance for a reasonable price,” Samsung said as part of its latest consolidated financial report published earlier this week. The company confirmed that its next Android phablet is launching early so as to attempt reviving its mobile sales that have been weaker than expected in the second quarter of the year, primarily due to the fact that the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus ended up underperforming.
Galaxy Note 9 To Become Available On August 24: Leak
The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is one of the most anticipated smartphones of 2018, and it seems like its release date has just been revealed by a leaked poster. If you take a look at the provided image down below, you will be able to see the aforementioned poster, and on it, you’ll notice August 24 is noted as a release date for the device. This poster surfaced in South Korea, so it’s possible that a global release date will be slightly different.
Pre-Order Big Battery OUKITEL K8 For $139.99 (20% Off)
OUKITEL has kicked off pre-sale for its new smartphone, the OUKITEL K8. Along with announcing that, the company also announced that the device has been discounted by $20 during the pre-sale period, which means that you can now get it via AliExpress for $139.99 as we speak, and will be available at that price point until August 19.
Pocket City Is A Full-Featured, Yet Simple City-Building Game
Take everything you know about the city building genre, strip it down to the realistic, nitty-gritty essentials and package it into a mobile game that’s meant to be intuitive and easy to use, and you’ve basically got Pocket City. This game brings all of the challenges of your standard city builder, but with no thematic elements to color the experience, no wild variations on the genre, and no sub-games.
Google Hires Sony Gaming Veteran Richard Marks
Sony Interactive Entertainment’s senior research engineer Richard Marks, who worked on the company’s PlayStation VR and PlayStation Move, has now left the company for a job at Google. Marks was also responsible for the creation of PlayStation Eye back in the PlayStation 2 era while heading Sony’s Magic Lab. The experience makes him a good fit for the position he has taken on at Google as part of its Advanced Technology and Projects group (ATAP).
Deal: Sony XBR65X850F 65-Inch 4K Smart LED TV For $1498 - July 2018
Amazon has the Sony XBR65X850F 65-inch 4K TV on sale today for $1498. That is $300 off of its regular price, and that also marks the first price drop since the TV was announced back at CES earlier this year. That means that this is indeed the 2018 model, which is good to see. The Sony XBR65X850F is one of the company’s higher-end LED TV sets, so you’re getting a higher-end TV here than you might see from other TV makers like LG or Samsung.
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