Moto Z3 Play Has Been Certified By Verizon

The Moto Z3 Play went on sale today, and that means that many more people are going to be picking one up and using it on their favorite network. Verizon has announced, that it has certified the Moto Z3 Play to work on its network. So what that means is that Verizon customers can pick up the Moto Z3 Play from Amazon or Motorola’s website, and then put their Verizon SIM card inside and it’ll start working automatically. It’ll work just like if Verizon were a GSM network like AT&T or T-Mobile. Which is actually pretty incredible.

Motorola’s Moto Z3 Play is the latest addition to the Moto Z lineup, which means that it’ll work with a slew of Moto Mods, which are already sold at Verizon. This includes the Insta-Share Projector, the JBL SoundBoost 2 and many more. The Moto Z3 Play is the first in the Moto Z lineup to sport a taller display. So Motorola went with a 18:9 aspect ratio on the Moto Z3 Play, giving it a larger 6-inch display with a full HD+ AMOLED panel. It also has a fingerprint sensor but instead of being on the bottom of the device, it’s actually on the right-hand side. It is powered by the Snapdragon 636 chipset and has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Which is going to be plenty for most people. All of that is powered by a 3000mAh capacity battery and Motorola has also included the Moto Power Pack Mod in the box which gives you another 2,000mAh capacity on top of that.

The Moto Z3 Play is available for $499, however, if you pick it up from Amazon, you can get it for just $449. That’s $50 off of the regular price, if you are an Amazon Prime member. And that’s because it is part of the Amazon Prime Exclusive lineup of smartphones. So it’s going to have a few more pre-installed apps than what you’d get from the regular version of the Moto Z3 Play.

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AT&T’s $15 Per Month ‘WatchTV’ Service Is Now Live

AT&T’s latest streaming solution, WatchTV, has gone live and is now available to those who had been waiting to sign up. This is a service which was first officially announced earlier in the month although at the time it was unclear when the service would be switched on. That seems to have happened within the last 24 hours, with consumers now able to sign up and immediately start watching.

The big selling point with WatchTV is the price as AT&T’s latest offering costs only $15 per month. For that price the product is more limited compared to other similar options although AT&T does state that more than 30 channels are included, with more set to be added in due course. It’s not just the main price that makes this such an affordable option for gaining access to live TV content, but the setup in general. As there are no additional hardware elements needed. This is designed to be a streaming service and therefore is totally dependent on an internet connection and accessible through a number of typical points, including the official website and a new dedicated Android app – now available to download from the Google Play Store.

Likewise, there are no prerequisites with adding the service. For example, you do not need to be an AT&T phone or internet customer, or someone who has already signed up to one of the company’s other TV-based solutions. It simply is a $15 per month option for those looking for one. However, those who are already AT&T customers will find it’s beneficial to combining the services, as consistent with the previous announcement, customers who are already signed up with either of the company’s new Unlimited & More or Unlimited & More Premium plans, gain WatchTV for free. Meaning those companies can literally access WatchTV today, through their existing account. Those existing customers, as well as non-AT&T customers, can start taking advantage of the service by downloading the Android app or heading over to the official WatchTV website. Those not eligible to free access to the service can take advantage of a free seven-day trial to find out what WatchTV offers before paying for it.

Google play More info: AT&T WatchTV

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Verizon Go90 Shuts Down On July 31

Verizon is shutting down its Go90 service on July 31. The U.S.’ largest carrier once had high hopes for the future of G090, but earlier this year suggested that it would be on its way out as the three-year old service just wasn’t drumming up enough excitement with the users it was trying to target, which was the younger millennial crowd. Verizon now states that Go90 will be shutting down following the creation of Oath, and that any technology from Go90 that hasn’t already been rolled into Oath will be incorporated in the near future. Up until the service is completely disabled though, users will still be able to use it to stream content if they wish.

Though Go90 is going away, Verizon is still going to be putting some effort into streaming content, noting that sports, finance, news, and entertainment will be the main focus of those efforts and that it will be building its “digital-first” brands around those categories, highlighting both mobile consumers and 5G applications, which suggests that whatever Verizon’s future streaming plans are they will still be focused on mobile users in addition to its 5G network.

Though Verizon’s streaming plans are still unclear, some of the content found on Go90 will likely be available to Verizon subscribers through another means at some point in the future. This should include some of the original content that was available on the Go90 platform though it is stated that Verizon is uncertain about what it’s going to do for some of the original content that it offers, which means some shows may end up disappearing along with the Go90 service itself. Go90 was originally unveiled and launch over three years ago in an attempt for Verizon to gain ad revenue from the streaming content on the platform. It offered subscribers of the carrier the ability to stream content spanning a wide range of categories from Sports to licensed TV shows, to original content.

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Verizon Launches the Galaxy J3 V Smartphone For $168

Verizon, today announced the Galaxy J3 V is now available on its network. It is being offered on the postpaid side of things, but it is also offering the Galaxy J3 on its prepaid business. So whether you’re a postpaid or a prepaid customer, you’ll be able to pick up this new smartphone from Verizon. The two devices are virtually the same, aside from the name, however Verizon prepaid gets it in blue, while postpaid only gets it in black.

The Galaxy J3 and Galaxy J3 V both sport a 5-inch HD display – that’s a 1280×720 resolution – and it has a 2600mAh capacity battery inside which should keep it running all day long. It’s powered by an Exynos 7884A octa-core processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. Samsung does offer up a micro SD card slot here for expanding storage on the Galaxy J3 V, which is also nice to see. Remember that Samsung does not support Adoptable Storage, so that micro SD card is only going to be good for storing pictures, music, and videos. Apps and games won’t be able to be stored on the micro SD card. Finally, the Galaxy J3 and J3V are both running on Android 8.0 Oreo, which is the latest version of Android, and it should get updated to Android P at some point (likely next year).

Verizon is offering the Galaxy J3 on its prepaid service for $124.99. Since it is a prepaid offering, there are no financing options available, but this is already discounted, seeing as the price is actually $168. Now the Galaxy J3 V over on postpaid is being offered for its regular price of $168. However, there is financing available through Verizon Edge, which is going to cost you $0 down and $7 per month for 24 months. Which is not a bad price, and that will be added onto your monthly bill from Verizon.

Buy the Samsung Galaxy J3 Buy the Samsung Galaxy J3 V

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Word, PowerPoint, Outlook Apps Get New Features In July

Three Microsoft Office Android applications will receive new features next month, according to the support page of the software giant Microsoft. The tech firm has identified the three Office applications for Android that will get new features in July as the Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint apps. Starting next month, the Microsoft Word Android app will now show both the word count and the number of pages of the document as the user scrolls up or down a file, and the application will also gain a zoom capability that will automatically fit the document to the entire smartphone screen.

On the other hand, the Outlook Android app will also be receiving at least two new features next month. Starting July, Microsoft will now allow people to delete contacts directly on the Outlook Android app, a feature that the software giant mentioned has been requested by the users of the application. The Microsoft Outlook for Android also gains a “Do Not Disturb” mode, which limits the number of distractions that users encounter. For example, this feature allows users to temporarily turn off email notifications for a specific amount of time or during specific scheduled events. Last but not the least, it will now be easier for users of the PowerPoint Android app to edit the slides of the presentation deck and access comments and notes on both portrait and landscape modes.  When the device is in portrait mode, comments and notes about the contents or appearance of a specific slide will appear at the bottom portion of the smartphone screens. Furthermore, users of Microsoft PowerPoint for Android can now take images and quickly share these photographs with other users.

The software updates that will introduce these new features will roll out next month through the Google Play Store, although Office Insiders, which are users who volunteered to test the preview versions of the latest Office app updates, should now receive the new software features. In the previous months, the software giant has introduced a number of features into the Android apps of its Microsoft Office suite. These include integration of the Office Lens technology into the Outlook Android app and the ability to use any font color for hyperlinks on the PowerPoint Android app.

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Alliance Residential Company Brings Nest & Google Products Into Its Apartments

While many are looking to make their home a smart home, those that live in apartments don’t have that choice. Unless you live in a luxury apartment owned by Alliance Residential Company. The company announced on Thursday that it is bringing Google & Nest products into 25,000 of its luxury apartments, which are located in 19 different States.

According to Alliance, this SmartHome package has been designed in partnership with Google, and smart home technology platform Dwelo. The package brings Google Home Mini, a Nest Learning Thermostat and a variety of smart locks, light switches and wall outlets into each apartment. All of these devices will be controlled through a Dwelo cellular-enabled hub. This also allows multifamily managers to have convenient access to the apartment. And with Google Home Mini being a part of this setup, it means that renters will be able to control everything with their voice using the Google Assistant. Which makes things a lot more fun. Alliance says that renters will be able to reach Dwelo 24/7, should they need some support on any of the products in their apartment. So if they are having issues with a smart lock, Dwelo will be able to help them out. Now while this makes these apartments more popular and enticing, it should also bring down their operating costs for Alliance, as heating and cooling costs will drop, and so will electricity.

This is actually a rather big deal for apartments, seeing as many of these smart home products are only able to be used in a home that you own, seeing as you’ll need to uninstall a doorbell, or mount a camera on a wall and so forth, most of which landlords are not going to allow you to do to your apartment. Which is unfortunate, but if more landlords like Alliance Residential Company step up and do packages like this one, that will change.

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DNA-Inspired Design Could Change Future Display Technology

Researchers out of Northwestern University have now revealed a set of design principles for photonic crystals which could replace the heavy layered polymers used in displays. That could, according to the project’s leads, Chad Mirkin and George Schatz, lead to lighter and thinner displays in laptops, televisions, and smartphones. The structure of the design is comprised of gold nanocrystals modeled after synthetic DNA, with the particles arranged in crystalline lattices. However, these wouldn’t replace the visual portion of a display but would be used to replace the reflective materials which back a typical display. Air is left between lattices, resulting in a backing that’s more compact but lighter and reconfigurable to meet the demands of a given display technology. For the tests, the team experimented specifically with LCD displays.

However, the discovery was made almost entirely by accident according to the research authors. In fact, the initial research has been focused almost entirely on life sciences, with more than 500 crystal types across 30 different symmetries already in use around the world based on a near identical concept. The resulting gold nanocrystal spheres are already in use in more than 1,800 ‘globally-used’ products and have been since the two professor’s research started way back in 1996. It was only through new advances in computer modeling that the pair stumbled upon and recognized the potential optical properties of their DNA-like structures. Further lab testing showed that the models, which had predicted better performance out of the gold nanocrystal arrangements than typical polymer-based technology, were correct.

Of course, further research and development will almost certainly be required before it becomes feasible for manufacturers to begin incorporating the discovery into consumer products. It may not be used at all, to begin with. With that said, the implications of the technology aren’t necessarily difficult to surmise. Depending on the durability of the displays which might be built on the new discovery, smartphones, smartwatches, laptops, and other similar electronics could become much thinner and more lightweight. Each of those aspects has been a collective focus held by manufacturers since those types of products first began to become available. Companies such as Samsung and LG, for example, have invested billions into developing next-generation display technologies. This breakthrough could prove useful in those endeavors in the future.

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How UBREAKIFIX Repairs Broken Smartphone Screens

Dropping a phone is never fun. It usually results in a brief moment of breathless despair followed by an immediate moment of fear that the device may have been damaged beyond the point of normal daily use, which for some usually leads to having to purchase a new device entirely if they didn’t have insurance, or paying for the insurance to send you a refurbished device replacement. You can also try to repair the phone yourself if you know what you’re doing, but if you’re not quite sure then you can end up damaging your device even more and perhaps beyond repair. This is where services like UBREAKIFIX come in. It has trained technicians that handle the repair for you and in most cases it’s done pretty quickly so you can have the device back same-day. The lighter the damage, the obviously quicker repair, for example. Screen damage, for example, would be quicker than having to take the whole phone apart and replace multiple components. For a cracked and damaged screen, though, the process doesn’t take long.

After giving over your information, the phone that needs repairs is taken into the back of the repair shop and placed into these tiny buckets with all of the necessary pieces to complete the repair, which for a damaged screen usually takes from one to two hours, though this time may vary if the wait is longer and there are more repairs to be done ahead of your own. For phones like the Pixel 2, or any phone that has a sealant under the display for the waterproofing, as well as for the adhesive of the display, the phone is placed into this machine that warms up the device and the adhesive to make it easier to get through. The whole process takes about ten minutes.

Technicians then remove the phone from the warming machine and proceed to lift the display away from the body of the phone with suction cup tools and spudgers. This can sometimes be a slow process as it may take a little bit of time to get the screen to lift away from the phone body safely. For the Pixel 2, once the panel is lifted away, the circuit that connects the pane to the motherboard of the phone has to be disconnected, and this requires first removing the clip that holds that circuit in place, which is held down by two little screws.
Whenever a screen has to be replaced the sealant is replaced along with it. This in particular comes attached to a thin piece of film much like you would see with a screen protector. The film is specific to the size of the phone, and is laid down and matched up with the edges of the device body before finally being pressed down. At this point the new display for the device needs to be attached, then have the clip screwed back into place over the display circuit connector, but before this the display is checked to make sure that all of the buttons on the keyboard, as well as other buttons like the navigation keys work, which allows the opportunity to spot if there are any dead areas on the display. If not, then everything is put back into place, the panel is then pressed down around the entirety of the edges to make sure there is a strong bond between the underside of the panel and the adhesive.

As one last step to make sure the bond is as strong as possible, the phone is placed into a protective box, which is then placed into a machine that applies pressure down onto the box to ensure that every section of the adhesive is doing its job. A checklist is then reviewed to make sure everything is working, and then that’s pretty much it. As mentioned earlier, a screen repair takes about one to two hours, though this time can change based on a couple of different things like how many other repairs there are to do ahead of yours, and what kind of phone needs the repair, as some may require more or less time than others. For the most part, though, you’re getting the phone repaired and back in your hands generally the same day, which is a lot faster than having a replacement mailed out and then having to send back the damaged device, not to mention you still have your original device and as long as the motherboard isn’t damaged, all of your data and content as well. While some consumers may feel perfectly comfortable with repairing their own devices, in most cases repair shops just might be the best solution as your wait times are low and the repairs are done properly.

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Koo Kwang-mo Becomes Fourth-Generation LG Group Chief

Koo Kwang-mo on Friday officially became the fourth-generation head of LG Group, having been named as its board member and Chief Executive Officer some five weeks after being nominated for the two roles. The adopted son of Chairman Koo Bon-moo who died last month after refusing life support following numerous brain surgeries will be responsible for the entirety of one of the largest family-run conglomerates in South Korea, commonly referred to as chaebols.

Mr. Koo was appointed with no significant opposition from the company’s investors, continuing the tradition of chiefs naming their eldest sons as successors to the fourth most valuable group in the Far Eastern country. The tech giant’s new leader joined the firm in 2006 at its financial unit after studying at the Rochester Institute of Technology. LG Group’s shareholders also voted for high-profile businessman Kim Sang-hun as the firm’s new non-executive director at the Friday meeting. The appointment of Mr. Koo brings LG into the fourth generation of its leaders, with the late Chairman first taking over the company in 1994. He was also the executive who pushed for the tech juggernaut to adopt a holding company structure in 2003 so as to improve its profitability and streamline its path toward long-term growth as part of a move that ended up being a resounding success.

The 40-year-old CEO’s family still holds over 40-percent of all LG shares and while the Seoul-based company is presently struggling to revive its mobile business, its overall operations are enjoying historic growth, having generated over a billion-dollar profit in the first three months of 2018 alone. Mr. Koo will assume his new responsibilities immediately and is expected to be leading a July call with analyst and investors after the firm publishes its consolidated financial report for the second quarter of the year in July. The size of LG’s business is only behind that of Samsung, Hyundai, and SK Group in South Korea.

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HTC U12 Plus Now Available For $799 From Amazon

After being announced last month, and being up for pre-orders for a couple of weeks, the HTC U12 Plus is finally available. You can pick it up from HTC’s website or Amazon. The HTC U12 Plus is going to cost you around $799, which HTC is offering up some financing if you purchase through its website instead of Amazon. So you can spread out the payments over 24 months instead of paying that much all at once. It does make it a bit easier to pay, and it’s a better pill to swallow.

The HTC U12 Plus is HTC’s latest flagship smartphone, featuring a 6-inch 2880×1440 resolution display. That means it is a 18:9 display, like most of 2018’s smartphones. It is also sporting the Snapdragon 845 chipset, along with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. HTC does include a micro SD card slot for expanding storage, should you want to add some more storage onto your device. This is all powered by a 3500mAh capacity battery, that should keep the HTC U12 Plus running all day long and then some. If not, there is Quick Charge 4.0 support here, so you can charge it up fairly quickly when you need to.

HTC is not selling the U12 Plus through any carrier partners, but the device will work on AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon networks, unfortunately it won’t work on Sprint’s network at this time. Purchasing through HTC, you have the option of getting the AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and unlocked models. If you do want to get an unlocked model, you also have the choice of bumping the storage up to 128GB for an extra $50. Which is not a bad price for 128GB of storage here. The HTC U12 Plus is available in Ceramic Black and Translucent Blue. The Flame Red color will be available later this summer.

Buy the HTC U12 Plus Buy The HTC U12 Plus (HTC.com)

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ZTE Ejects Entire Board Over U.S. Trade Sanction Violations

ZTE ejected its entire board of directors over its previous violations of U.S. trade sanctions imposed on Iran and North Korea, as well as its inability to comply with the terms of a 2017 settlement meant to resolve the issue, the company said Friday. The eight members of the old board handed in their resignations earlier today, with their successors already being named and lineup up to replace them, ready to start overseeing one of the largest damage control operations in the modern history of the technology industry.

Li Xixue has been elected as ZTE’s new Chairman and Executive Director, with the latter role also being given to Gu Junying. Zhu Weimin, Fang Rong, and Li Buqing are the firm’s new non-executive directors taken from its own ranks, whereas Yuming Bao, Gordon Ng, and Cai Manli will be assuming the same duties as independent members of the board, according to ZTE’s summary of its annual general meeting which took place on Friday. The same meeting also saw shareholders oppose the firm’s dividend plan worth over $208 million amid uncertainty about ZTE’s future; while the Commerce Department agreed to lift its seven-year denial order in principle, many challenges remain, including Capitol Hill’s strong opposition to saving the Chinese firm.

ZTE already paid a $1 billion fine over its latest transgressions and placed another $400 million on a U.S. eschew account in case of any future violations taking place. Under the current denial order, the original equipment manufacturer is unable to procure Qualcomm’s mobile chips and a wide variety of other technologies of crucial importance to its operations, including Google’s Android operating system, or at least an up-to-date version of the thereof. After the board, ZTE’s management is now also set to be revamped, with the firm agreeing to be overseen by an independent compliance officer tasked with ensuring it isn’t breaking any trade embargoes moving forward. ZTE’s ousted Chairman Yin Yimin reportedly called the new settlement “disastrous” but acknowledged its importance for keeping the crippled company afloat earlier this month. It’s still unclear when exactly will the denial order preventing ZTE from conducting day-to-day business be lifted.

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Top 10 Best Android Apps — Fourth Of July — June 2018

The Fourth of July, i.e. Independence Day is fast approaching for those of you who live in the US, and in the list down below, we’ve tracked down some apps that you may find useful on that specific day. Quite a few of you will probably want to throw some meat on the barbecue, while others will probably just look to enjoy some fun time with your families… or better yet – do both. In any case, we’ve included a number of interesting applications down below, which are not made specifically for the Fourth of July, but they are at the very least bound to be extremely useful this coming Wednesday.

Barbecue Grill Recipes

Barbecuing is for many of you an essential part of 4th of July, and in case you need some help with that, or you’re looking to try out new things, the Barbecue Grill Recipes app is here for you. As its name says, this is a collection of BBQ recipes, basically, and all of them are free, as is this app, though there are ads included. Within the app, you will find BBQ recipes for chicken, vegetarian, pork, salmon, shrimp… and so on, while some sauces are also included here. On top of being free, this app also has a rather nice-looking design.

Google play

GasBuddy

GasBuddy is an app that many of you probably quite familiar with. In case you’re traveling to see your family for 4th of July, you will probably want to find out where are all the gas stations located, and where can you find the cheapest fuel for your car. Well, that’s where GasBuddy jumps in, as this app’s purpose is to do just that, give you a chance to save some money on gas. This app has a community of over 70 million users, and in addition to being free, it also comes with a nice, modern design, though ads are included.

Google play

Google Play Music

No matter if you’re traveling for 4th of July, or if you’re planning to spend some time at home, it’s a good idea to have a music app available, as chances are you’ll want to play some tunes along the way. Well, the Google Play Music app is, as always, a really solid choice if you have a subscription, or if you’ve updated your pre-purchased tunes to the Google Play Music library. This app can connect to your TV or smart speaker if necessary, and it offers really nice design on top of everything.

Google play

Barbecue Chef

The first app on this list contains some barbecue recipes, well, the ‘Barbecue Chef’ app is completely different, this is a game, and it’s probably more appropriate for your kid than yourself. You can keep your kid(s) busy during 4th of July, just in case you need some rest, just let them play this game and you should be good to go, presuming they’re interested, and chances are they will be if they see your barbecuing. This application is completely free to install and play, though ads are a part of the equation.

Google play

Uber

Most of you have probably either used or at least heard of Uber, but this app can be quite handy in case you don’t have a ride for 4th of July. In case you’re planning to spend some time in the city, or something of the sort, and you don’t really like using regular taxis, well, Uber is a great alternative. All you have to do is fire up the app, order a ride via that app, and wait for it to arrive to your location. Uber’s app is free to download and use, and you won’t see any ads in this application.

Google play

Snapseed

Chances are you will take some pictures during upcoming 4th of July, and some of those pictures will probably need some editing. Well, Google’s Snapseed image editor is a great choice, as it’s really simple, and yet extremely powerful. Snapseed is a free app that you can get as we speak, and it does not contain any ads, but it does contain a ton of tools on the inside, which let you not only to manually tweak images, but it also comes with a ton of preset which are capable of doing all the work for you.

Google play

Google Maps

In case you’re traveling on 4th of July, and are not really familiar with the neighborhood you’re traveling to, or you’re not sure how to get there… well, Google Maps app is here for you. Needless to say, this application is completely free, and if you have an Android smartphone, chances are this app came pre-installed on it. Google Maps can help you out not matter if you’re planning on walking around the city, driving, or using public transportation, as all of those options are available.

Google play

AlcDroid

If you’re planning on drinking for 4th of July, and quite a few of you probably will, it may be wise to have an app like AlcDroid Alcohol Tester around. As its name says, this is an alcohol tester app, which can help you out in case you’re looking to find out what’s your current blood alcohol level. Driving is never a good idea if you’re drinking, as you already know, and this app is not entirely accurate, of course, so please don’t drink and drive. AlcDroid is available in both free and paid versions, and a paid version costs about $2.

Google play

Airbnb

Airbnb is another well-known app, and chances are most of you know what is it about. Just in case you don’t have a place to stay while visiting family, as such gatherings can be quite crowded, Airbnb can help you out. This app will track down a number of places to stay in an area of your choosing, and within your budget. Finding a place to stay is really easy, while you will also be able to see some pictures of said accommodations, and also book it for a number of days with ease.

Google play

Donald Trump Soundboard

Donald Trump Soundboard doesn’t really have a specifically useful application, as its name says, this is just a soundboard packed with ‘Donald Trump sounds’. Ranging from “China” to “A small loan of 1 million dollars”, this app is packed with words / sentences Donald Trump used once or several times while speaking publicly. You can set any of these sounds as your ringtone, and the app itself is categorized, and it offers a really nice design actually, which is quite surprising considering this is just a soundboard app.

Google play

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New Chip Could Push Alexa Beyond Smartphones & Speakers

California-based DSP Group is looking to take Amazon’s Alexa beyond smartphones and smart speakers with a new DBMD5 SoC designed with Amazon’s Amazon Alexa Voice Service (AVS) in mind. Built to occupy less space than a dime, the company sees its chip being used in everything from smartwatches to more mobile devices and lighter smart speakers than what’s available. Of course, there are already some solutions in the works or for sale that allow for some of what DSP wants to accomplish. However, most of those still depend on a connection to a smartphone in order to function. That causes problems for universality since some smartphones are more finicky than others when it comes to Alexa. With the new chip, that could easily become an issue of the past and that appears to be exactly what DSP Group is going for.

Aside from the new chipset itself, the company has also revealed a development kit based around the silicon, installed on the Raspberry Pi 3 – Model B. It incorporates the new SoC alongside a universal power supply and an SD Card slot. In order to show off what its chip is capable of, the kit also only makes use of three microphones mounted directly to the DSP Group HDClear 3-Mic Development Board. With the chip in place, the company says it is able to maintain a low-energy requirement while enabling advanced far-field voice detection and scalability. It’s a solution which should be relatively easy to couple with a wide array of outgoing sound options for full Amazon Alexa functionality in a very small package.

Depending on the implementation, it could also get much smaller than that. Smart devices and wearables are already equipped with a wide array of hardware and many already incorporate a microphone and speaker, for example. DSP Group says its kit shows scalability from one mic to three. Given that the chip’s size is so small, that means it’s not outside of reasonable expectation that it would be easy enough to squeeze into a Wear OS or Tizen accessory. Beyond that, the new chip could make it easier than ever for OEMs to include more over-the-top features on a whole slew of in-home technology ranging from smart lamps and lighting solutions to wireless chargers and more. That would increase the diversity of top smart devices considerably.

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Dark Red OnePlus 6 Model Teased In Strange Video

OnePlus took to Twitter on Friday morning to tease what appears to be a new color variant of the OnePlus 6, the company’s latest Android flagship launched this spring. Besides the strange video starring a hooded figure that can be seen below, the firm went as far as to spell out the hex code of the color meant to be adopted by the next OnePlus 6 model – #C61422. The identifier denotes a dark shade of red with little green and blue properties that’s less bright than the Lava Red variant of the OnePlus 5T introduced by the Chinese phone maker half a year back.

As indicated by every other limited-edition color of previously released OnePlus handsets, the new hue will most likely only be available alongside the most premium memory configuration of the OnePlus 6, i.e. the one that includes 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage space. Shortly prior to the teaser going live, popular YouTube creator Marques Brownlee — better known by his online handle MKBHD — took to Twitter to share another image that can be seen below, showing a Midnight Black variant of the OnePlus 6 sitting in front of a seemingly identical device of a different color – red. Mr. Brownlee was already hired to promote the OnePlus 6 and worked with the Chinese company in the past, and it appears the launch of the new variant of the 2018 Android handset will be yet another collaborative effort between himself and the Shenzen-based firm. The red version of the device is scheduled to be officially announced on Monday, July 2, as indicated by the new teaser.

The OnePlus 6 is the company‘s fastest-selling mobile product to date, with the OEM moving over a million units in its first three weeks on the market, as per its own disclosure from earlier this month. While the OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T also sold more than a million units each last year, they both took nearly three months to do so. A refined take on the OnePlus 6 formula that may be advertised as the OnePlus 6T is likely to be announced in late 2018.

Now initiating: C61422. Do you wish to continue? https://t.co/QTDxIcWP5N #OnePlus6 pic.twitter.com/mTyjqk5FZZ

— OnePlus (@oneplus) June 29, 2018

Oh hey what do we have here @OnePlus pic.twitter.com/A3eknmAEA8

— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) June 29, 2018

The post Dark Red OnePlus 6 Model Teased In Strange Video appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

Waymo Planning Major Autonomous Taxi Push In Europe

Waymo CEO John Krafcik provided some insight into the company’s plans for expanding its self-driving taxi services to Europe. The official revealed that plans to expand into Europe are still in the very early stages while speaking to German newspaper Handelsblatt. Beyond that, the services won’t be introduced in the region under Waymo’s branding due to a lack of brand recognition to help drive the business. Instead, the executive explained, talks are underway to launch the offering with automotive manufacturers under OEM-specific branding. For example, it could launch under a Mercedes or BMW branding in Germany, with a given company’s own vehicles retrofitted for the task. However, those partnerships won’t necessarily be region-specific. No details were provided as to which companies those will be or even which companies are involved in the talks.

That’s all despite recent speculation that at least some of the 62,000 vehicles Waymo requested from the Fiat Chrysler Group back in May would be used for an expansion into Europe. Further vehicles are also expected to be granted to the company from Jaguar Land Rover. In fact, according to Krafcik, all of the plans announced so far, including news about the acquisitions of more vehicles, are set to serve its efforts in the U.S. The executive went on to reveal that the autonomous vehicle group would actually need “many more” vehicles to make headway on the continent. No exact number required for expansion into the region was given but that seems to imply that more vehicles would be required beyond the combination of what’s being granted by partners in the U.S.

That’s not necessarily surprising since there are differences between how things work from state to state as compared to between countries in Europe. While the challenge of cross-state operations is nothing to take lightly, it could be much more difficult to work without clear legislation in place for autonomous vehicles crossing borders in the E.U. In the meantime, the country is staying relatively tight-lipped about its endeavors as it moves to continue testing in the U.S. Live testing with real human passengers has been approved in Arizona as of February, under a strict set of guidelines and conditions.

The post Waymo Planning Major Autonomous Taxi Push In Europe appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

Google Cloud Looked At GitHub Before Microsoft Acquisition

Google Cloud was interested in acquiring GitHub before Microsoft completed the deal to purchase the world’s largest platform for collaborative coding this spring, according to the unit’s head Diane Green. While speaking at a recent Fortune Magazine event in San Francisco, Ms. Green said “she wouldn’t have minded buying them” in reference to GitHub but hadn’t disclosed whether the Mountain View, California-based tech giant ever launched an official bid for the company. Regardless, the fact that Microsoft now added a major asset to its Azure division that directly rivals Google Cloud is still “OK,” according to Ms. Green.

Microsoft confirmed the GitHub acquisition in early June, announcing it in the form of an all-stock deal valued at $7.5 billion. The transaction will officially close later this year, providing bolstering Microsoft’s presence on the global development scene, particularly open-source software. The Redmond, Washington-based juggernaut intends to migrate GitHub to Azure and while it may offer some bundled cloud packages to large-scale developers, the online tool will continue operating independently. Ms. Green said she’s hoping Microsoft will keep GitHub “neutral” for everyone’s sake, including that of Google who has several popular open-source projects on the platform.

Some 28 million developers are presently contributing to over 85 million active repositories on GitHub, with more being added every day since the platform launched in 2008. A number of industry analysts remain skeptical about Microsoft’s ability to generate a significant return on its investment for the foreseeable future, though the acquisition itself shouldn’t place a major burden on the company whose market cap is over hundred times the size of the GitHub deal, especially since no cash will exchange hands as part of the transaction. No tech giants voiced any kind of intentions to pull from GitHub after the platform lost its independence. Google itself continues to push its cloud offerings across industries, both as standalone solutions for enterprises and as platforms for powering features of many of its other products and services.

The post Google Cloud Looked At GitHub Before Microsoft Acquisition appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

Facebook Quiz Provider Compromised 120M Users: Report

Although the vulnerability has now been removed, popular Facebook Quiz provider NameTests reportedly exposed sensitive user data via JavaScript for years, potentially leaking data of more than 120 million users. The data was taken from permissions granted by users to various quiz apps and NameTests has been in operation since 2015. Depending on which quizzes were taken, users could have exposed a huge variety of information, according to Inti De Ceukelaire, the researcher who found the problem. Potentially compromised information includes one’s Facebook ID, first name, last name, language, gender, date of birth, profile picture, cover photo, preferred currency, posts and statuses, photos and their friends, which devices were used, and when the profile information was last updated. As to how that worked, it comes down to the way the app called a user’s data forward.

The use of JavaScript to load up the user’s data, and also to create a token for more in-depth access, means that nearly any website could feasibly have taken the data by accessing the app’s configuration file. That also meant that deleting the app still left facebook ID, first name, last name, language, gender, and date of birth vulnerable. Since no method was in place for users to log out, that data remained accessible after the offending app was deleted unless a user deleted their cookies. There’s no reason to believe that the vulnerability was intentionally harmful. Moreover, there’s no evidence that any data was stolen. It was most likely intended for internal advertising purposes for NameTests itself. However, it did expose quite a lot of information for several years.

Perhaps more concerning, even after the problem was discovered, De Ceukelaire says it took more than a month for Facebook to contact the developers involved. As of this writing, the vulnerability has been fixed and Facebook has even donated $8,000 to the Freedom of the Press Foundation as part of their Data Abuse Bounty Program – at De Ceukelaire’s request. But the company had initially indicated it would take two or three months to finish investigating the matter. Depending on whether or not a Facebook app’s developer is notified and fixes the problem internally, that potentially leaves users exposed for that much longer. With consideration of how many applications are running on the platform, that also means there could be plenty of others with similar security issues. So, while the social media giant continues its investigations into these kinds of issues, De Ceukelaire has some sound advice for those still using Facebook; users should be careful about granting permissions, only install apps they’re currently using, and delete cookies after removing any given app.

The post Facebook Quiz Provider Compromised 120M Users: Report appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

Thousands of Android and iOS apps are leaking your data through their Firebase backend

Apps are inadvertently leaking data through 2,271 misconfigured databases.

Firebase is a great service for any small developer who needs to have an online service at their disposal. It's powered by Google and the company goes out of its way to help developers use it in their mobile apps. You can see by simply watching any Google I/O session video about Firebase that developer actually cheer when the service is mentioned.

Apparently, some of those developers have hit a snag when it comes to configuring the database they may be using to store your data. After scanning 2.7 million apps, security researchers at Appthority say more than 113GB of data is available through over 2,200 Firebase databases to anyone who knows the right URL. In total, there are over 100 million personal records exposed.

Researchers found 28,500 apps that used Firebase to connect and store user details, of which 3,046 stored their data inside a misconfigured Firebase database that was readable through the use of a JSON URL scheme. The majority of the apps that use Firebase are for Android, but 600 apps that exposed data are for iOS. The problem is platform-agnostic, and the apps in question aren't the culprit here. It's simply the database configuration on the backend.

The information leaked contains:

• 2.6 million plaintext passwords and user IDs.
• 4 million+ PHI (Protected Health Information) records.
• 25 million GPS records.
• 50 thousand financial including Bitcoin transactions.
• 4.5 million Facebook, LinkedIn, corporate data-store user tokens.

Appthority informed Google about the database configuration and provided the list of affected apps before this report was published. We've reached out to see if Google has anything they would like to add and will update once it's received.

Appthority is no stranger to finding poorly configured online databases. Previously the company has found "critical" user data exposed through services like MongoDB, CouchDB, Redis, MySQL, and Twilio.

These U.S. carriers have updated the LG G6 to Android Oreo

Where are ya, T-Mobile?

The LG G6 was one of 2017's most underappreciated phones, but despite its lacking popularity, it's still important that LG updates the phone on a timely manner for those that did throw their cash down for it.

A lot of carriers in the U.S. have recently updated the LG G6 to Android 8.0 Oreo, and to help you keep track of which companies have committed to the update, here's the list as it currently stands.

AT&T

According to numerous reports over on Reddit, the LG G6 on AT&T is being updated to Oreo. AT&T's website isn't updated to reflect these changes at the time of publication, but that should be fixed soon.

The update increases the G6's security patch to April 2018 and has all of the Oreo features you'd expect — such as picture-in-picture, notification dots next to app icons, Google's handy Autofill API, and more.

Sprint

If you purchased the LG G6 on Sprint, you're also in luck!

Android 8.0 Oreo started rolling out to the Sprint G6 in late May, and it weighs in at a hefty 1808.5MB.

Interestingly enough, the G6 on Sprint gets a more recent security patch with an update to the May 2018 one.

Verizon

Verizon was actually the first carrier in the United States to start updating the G6 to Oreo.

Verizon's update measures in at 1893.0MB, and like the Sprint variant, comes with the older April 2018 security patch.

T-Mobile

Lastly, T-Mobile started issuing its Oreo update to the LG G6 on June 29.

The build number is changed to H87220a and all of the regular Oreo goodies are included.

Unlocked LG G6 finally gets Android 8.0 Oreo update

LG G6

• LG G6 review!
• LG G6 specs
• LG G6 vs. Google Pixel: The two best cameras right now
• Everything you need to know about the G6's cameras
• LG forums

Verizon Sprint T-Mobile AT&T B&H

Android Oreo

• Android Oreo review!
• Everything new in Android Oreo
• How to get Android Oreo on your Pixel or Nexus
• Oreo will make you love notifications again
• Will my phone get Android Oreo?
• Join the Discussion

Updated June 29, 2018: Added T-Mobile to the list!

Get patriotic this Fourth of July with our quickest home screen theme yet

This theme is quite fitting for our country: it looks complicated, awesome and time-consuming, but it's really quite easy.

The Fourth of July is a day to celebrate our union, to acknowledge its past and look ahead to its future. It's also an excuse for everyone to take a day off work in the middle of the summer, go swimming by the river, grilling in the backyard, drink some star-spangled beer and blow up some fireworks. Whatever your plans for this Independence Day, make sure that your phone is decked out in some red, white, and blue brilliance with our quickest theme yet, built upon American adaptability and KLWP.

• About KLWP and our July 4th theme
• Applying the July 4th Preset in KLWP
• Adjusting the July 4th Preset in KLWP
• Applying Whicons Icon Pack

About KLWP and our July 4th theme

KLWP — short for Kustom Live Wallpaper — is the bigger, bolder brother of KWGT, the what-you-see-is-what-you-get widget builder that we've used in many of our theme the last few years, including our recent Heart Canada and Deadpool themes. KLWP is a what-you-see-is-what-you-get live wallpaper builder, allowing you to build widgets, shortcuts, and designs right into your live wallpaper.

See the 5 white app icons on the screen? Everything besides those is part of our live wallpaper, and that means that since we've already built the theme, all you lucky users need to do is apply the live wallpaper, apply your icon pack, and get on with grilling and chilling.

This theme was originally based around a widget I found and liked in Element for KWGT, which is a wonderful preset pack I recommend checking out for KWGT. I hunted down the fonts and fonticon pack to help re-create the dock in KLWP and then made several edits and additions, including:

• Converted the three app shortcuts into music controls
• Added song information to the bottom of the dock, just above the nav bar
• Organized the Time/Weather elements to help them remain better aligned
• Tied all the theme elements to Globals for easy color adjustments
• Created and adjusted a custom tricolor music progress bar to sit sit along the edge of the dock
• Added a conditional layer to hide the interactive elements while on the lock screen

This is a theme I've tinkered and toyed with for over a month, and a KLWP Preset that I've adjusted and fine-tuned through weeks of personal use. Since you'll be importing the KLWP Preset I've made, you'll need KLWP Pro, which is $4.50. Considering how powerful KLWP is and how responsive its development team and community are, I think it's more than worth that price.

The only elements you'll need besides KLWP and KLWP's Pro Key are our July 4th Preset, the free Whicons Icon Pack, and a home screen launcher that supports custom icon packs. I'm using Nova Launcher so that I can take advantage of subgrid positioning and lay out my apps in an angle that matches the theme.

Applying the July 4th Preset in KLWP

Once you download the July 4th Preset, use a file manager app to copy it to Internal Memory/Kustom/wallpapers. If you haven't opened Kustom before, you might have to make the Kustom folder or wallpapers subfolder. Once the preset file is saved in Kustom/wallpapers, let's get it imported.

1. Open KLWP.
2. Tap the next arrow three times.

3. Tap Allow to let Kustom access your device's storage.

   

4. Tap the next arrow.
5. Tap Allow to let Kustom access your device's location.

6. Tap Done.

   

7. A welcome message will appear.After reading it, tap Done.
8. Tap Load Preset.

9. In the Presets menu, tap the Exported tab.

   

10. Tap July 4th Preset.
11. The preset will load, but Kustom is still missing some important permissions for our theme. Tap Fix now.

12. Tap Fix.

    

13. Tap Kustom LWP or Kustom Notifications.
14. Tap Allow.

15. Tap the back button.

    

16. Tap the floppy disc icon in the top right bar of the screen to Save the wallpaper.
17. We still need to set KLWP as our wallpaper. Tap Fix.

18. Tap Set Wallpaper.

    

19. Tap Home screen and lock screen.
20. Tap the floppy disc icon in the top right bar of the screen to Save the wallpaper.

21. Tap the home button to see the applied theme in action.

    

The theme should adapt well to most home screen sizes since most the element groups are anchored and organized from the bottom of the screen.

Adjusting the July 4th Preset in KLWP

Ideally, the only thing left you'll need to do is set the icon pack, but if you need to adjust the theme, here are some ways you can do that.

• Is the dock not fitting the width of your screen properly? Tap Layer and adjust the Scale up to down to your liking. Be advised that not all elements adjust at the same rate, so you may need to readjust individual elements after doing this.
• Want to re-position the sections of the dock to better fit your screen? Tap the Item group or element you wish to move (for instance the Progress Bar), and then tap Position. Adjust the X and Y offsets or directional padding to re-position the element as desired.

• You can change what tapping an individual element or group triggers. For the base Preset, tapping the Hour opens the Kustom editor so you can adjust the wallpaper to your liking, but you could change it to open your clock or calendar app.

  

• Weather providers offer different descriptions of current weather conditions and some providers are more accurate in different regions than others. To change the weather provider KLWP uses, tap the three-line menu icon in the top left corner of the screen and tap Settings. Under Weather, you can tap Weather Provider and select from half a dozen sources.

• KLWP by default will pull in the details and controls for any media notification that it sees. If you only want KLWP to pull in data from one app, you can enter KLWP Settings and set Preferred Music Player to your chosen music app.

  

There are plenty of ways to edit and alter this theme. For instance, here in Texas, the weather is horribly hot and sunny all the time, so I've switched the weather fonticon out for a Google Keep icon and shortcut.

Because, really, knowing how hot it is outside during the Fourth of July barbeque doesn't help us endure it any better; it only makes us more aware of our misery.

Applying Whicons Icon Pack

This is a simple red, white and blue theme, and it works best with a simple white icon pack, and for a simple white icon pack, we turn once again to one of my favorite icon packs on Google Play. Whicons is one of the three free icon packs from Randle that mesh with so many themes that it's just unnatural.

1. Open Whicons.
2. Tap the three-line menu icon in the top left corner.

3. Tap Apply.

   

4. Tap your desired launcher.

5. Tap OK.

   

I arrange my apps on the home screen using Nova Launcher's subgrid positioning, but you can place your icons anywhere above our patriotic dock.

Your turn

So, do put fifty icons on your home screen for the 50 stars — assuming your home screen is big enough for that many — or do you take a more reserved approach to our Fourth of July theme? Want to kick it up a little more? Try this Captain America variant I made using The First Avenger's colors and signature shield for some Star-Spangled Awesome.

Are there any themes you'd like us to tackle? Let us know in the comments!