There are plenty of options when it comes to Sudoku games in the Play Store, and more than a few have the name Killer Sudoku. What makes the version from Easybrain any different; is it even worth looking into?
Is there something specific that makes this one “killer” or does it change the way the game is played? There are plenty of questions that need to be answered.
Find out what Scott thinks of this one by listening to the embedded podcast below.
Humans are masters at communication, be it the spoken word or a silent look. Chatting with friends, loved ones, and co-workers happens on a variety of levels, some verbal and some non-verbal.
As the business world continues to expand globally, and countries seem to draw closer, communication is more important than ever. And while English, Spanish, and French are the languages that one often thinks of, there’s another equally important one to consider: American Sign Language.
Although you might not know anyone who uses ASL to communicate, you could one day down the road. A new friend, co-worker, or business associate could come into your life and being able to talk with them could present a challenge at first. That is, of course, if you don’t understand how to use ASL.
If you’ve ever considered learning how to speak in sign language, now’s your chance. We have a 16-course bundle in the AG Deals Store dedicated to learning American Sign Language, and right now it’s just $34.99.
Over more than 1,763 lessons you’ll come to understand ABCs, common words and everyday phrases, and much more.
Led by experienced instructors with nearly perfect ratings, students will become comfortable signing through ASL. Each of the courses is designed with beginners and experienced signers in mind and feature easy-to-follow lesson plans. Informative, fun, and incredibly valuable, these are tools you’ll have for the rest of your life.
Save big on the 11-course 2022 All-in-One American Sign Language Bundle, just $35.99 in the AG Deals Store, barely three bucks per course!
Xiaomi sub-brand Poco is back with another budget-friendly offering for consumers, this time in the form of the M4 Pro 5G.
Priced as low as EUR 229 (~$265 USD), the Poco M4 Pro is powered by Android 11-based MIUI 12.5 and features a respectable amount of hardware, including 5G connectivity.
Things get started with the large, 6.6-inch FHD+ LCD display with up to 90Hz refresh rate and continue with the equally generous 5,000mAh battery with 33W fast charging.
According to Poco, the phone can charge from 0-100 percent in one hour’s time; a 10-minute charge is good enough add two hours of video streaming.
In terms of power and performance, the Poco M4 Pro 5G comes with MediaTek’s Dimensity 810 processor and is paired with at least 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. Alternatively, 6GB and 128GB is also available.
As far as cameras goes, the phone has a 50-megapixel and 8-megapixel (ultrawide) combo with a 16-megapixel shooter around front.
Other interesting and noteworthy details include a side-mounted fingerprint reader, a 3.5mm headphone jack, IR blaster, and Face Unlock.
The Poco M4 Pro 5G comes in Poco Yellow, Power Black, and Cool Blue color options and will be available generally worldwide. Early Bird pricing puts the phone as low as $199 for the 4GB/64GB option and $219 for the 6GB/128GB variant.
We have a review unit here in the office and will have a review to share in the coming days.
If you’re as old as us, you can recall the days of Nintendo and the simplicity of side-scrolling games like Contra. Fast forward a few decades and into the era of smartphones. Does that style of game still work? Find out what Luke Gaul thinks of Contra Returns, a relatively new game in the Google Play Store.
One of the biggest side effects of the ongoing pandemic is that people going stir-crazy and are ready to travel. And while some already have, a lot of people are looking to 2022 and going on a vacation or truly getting away.
If travel is something you’re itching to do, or if you’ve got a bucket list of destinations to check out, you’ll definitely want to look into Dollar Flight Club.
Trusted by more than one million global members, Dollar Flight Club scours the web, looking for deals and discounts on travel. Simply enter your home airports on the site and watch your inbox alert you to the best deals available. From there it’s a matter of booking and enjoying the getaway.
Whether it’s a dream vacation or a quick weekend out of town, you’ll have the Dollar Flight Club keeping a close eye on things.
Dollar Flight Club is rated 4.4 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot and will continuously monitor things so you can focus on life. Some of its most recent findings include $394 roundtrip to Greece, $85 roundtrip to Miami, $229 roundtrip to Iceland, $168 roundtrip to Aruba, and so many more.
Join over one million users and start booking your dream vacations on the cheap with a subscription to Dollar Flight Club. Valued at nearly $700, a lifetime subscription is just $99 for AndroidGuys readers. Prices subject to change so hurry!
How does this officially licensed Stranger Things game stand up in the crowded space that is match-three games? In a word, easily. You may have seen this format of game used before but it’s likely not done as well as what’s on offer here.
Scott Webster shares his impressions of the Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales title that has been slowly making its way up the charts.
On this planet, about 1.2 billion people are in the lack of access to electricity and more than half of them are living in Africa. Over 640 million Africans have no access to energy, corresponding to an electricity access rate for African countries at just over 40 percent, the lowest in the world. Per capita consumption of energy in sub-Saharan Africa per year (excluding South Africa) is 180 kWh, compared to 14,000 kWh per capita in the United States and 7,500 kWh in Europe.
The poverty of energy in Africa is keeping its people poorer. Not only affect the the attainment of health and education outcomes, but also increases the cost of doing business and unlocking economic potential and creating jobs. Insufficient energy access manifests itself in hundreds of thousands of deaths annually due to the use of wood-burning stoves for cooking(Carbon monoxide poisoning or fire); handicaps the operations of hospitals and emergency services; compromises educational attainment; and drives up the cost of doing business. Energy access for all is therefore one of the key drivers of inclusive growth as it creates opportunities for women, youths, children both in urban and rural areas.
Africa’s energy potential, especially renewable energy, is enormous, yet only a fraction of it is being currently employed. For which reason, the renewable energy pioneer BLUETTI is now making their move.
As a rising star of the off-grid power industry, Bluetti’s well known for their highly recognizable portable power stations and portable solar panels. Their products are well loved by their customers all over the world, but mostly in developed regions like the U.S. and Europe. Yet Bluetti’s been dedicated to bringing easy access of power to every corner of the world. And in the year of 2021, they set foot on African soil.
Bluetti has launched a 5-year plan in Africa called Project LAAF (Lighting An African Family). Literally the company’s strategy is giving lighting and power supply to African families that are living without electricity. The ultimate goal is powering over 1,000,000 families at the end of 2026.
In September, 2021, the first family was powered up in Nigeria. Jane Adona, a poor woman living with 5 children in the Soweto Kibera informal settlement. She has been living in a shanty room without electricity for several years. And her effort to get connected has been fruitless as those who are responsible keep asking for money.
But now, she’s got light on the ceiling, solar panel on the roof, and a whole set of power storage system, all from Bluetti, for free.
The aspirational goal of this project is to help as many families as possible to achieve relatively easy electricity access by 2026 with a strong focus on encouraging clean and renewable energy solutions. This will require providing 10 GW of new capacity, one million new off-grid connections and providing one million households with access to clean cooking solutions.
If there’s one thing that the pandemic has done to people, it’s shown them that they can and should reevaluate their lives. Be it where they work, how they work, what they do for fun, or how they spend their time, the last two years have been eye opening to say the least.
Plenty of people have pivoted during the pandemic, picking up a side hustle or chasing a new hobby. And in the era of Etsy, Pinterest, and social media, it’s easier than ever to reach a global audience. If you have an idea for a cool product, chances are good there’s a way to sell it.
Should you be the type of person who likes to design handcrafted products you may want to consider some custom engraving. But before you worry about how difficult of an endeavor that might be, or how expensive the equipment is, consider the Ortur Audero Laser 1 engraving machine.
At a quick glance one might feel overwhelmed by how these sort of machines look and be intimidated. How does one even beging to assemble one of these, let alone begin using it? That’s what’s great about the Orturs Aufero Laser 1; it comes pre-assembled and ready to go out of the box. It takes all of about one minute to install the laser module and get going.
It’s designed with newbies and beginners in mind, and should you need help there are plenty of videos available to walk you through the process of setup and usage. Moreover, you’ll be primed on topics like maintenance, cleaning the modules or adjusting focus.
And as if that was not enough peace of mind, Ortur has a user community of 20,000+ members who are more than happy to assist.
Thanks to advanced tech like its 9th-generation motherboard, the Aufero Laser 1 is able to offer an incredibly smooth and precise engraving experience. Whether it’s wood, glass, stone, stainless, steel, paper, or leather, the tool handles a whole array of materials.
When it comes to wood, its LU2 series laser module can cut through 6mm plywood or 8mm pine board in a single pass. Should you find your needs changing with time there are other laser modules to pick up down the road.
The Aufero Laster 1 supports the Ortur Laser 1.8 series firmware, the brand’s latest and most advanced.
The concept of lasers and burning might sound scary and dangerous, and it can be if not handled properly. To that end, Ortur has equipped its laser module with a laser shield. Additionally, it has a 24V electric system which allows it to operate at a lower currency.
The Aufero 1 can detect if it has been displaced or tilted and should that happen, the laser will automatically stop to prevent accidents or mishaps or inaccurate engraving. And should your PC crash in the middle of the engraving process, the laser will stop on it own.
Another noteworthy safety feature is exposure duration detection, which automatically cuts power to the laser module if the machine’s motors have not moved in some time.
Not only does Ortur provide a large community and tools for help in using the Aufero Laser 1, it also stands behind the product, too. Indeed, it offers after-sales support seven days a week for customers in the US and Europe, 24 hours a day. This means that there’s a company representative ready to help you no matter what time you call.
Ortur offers the Aufero Laser 1 in three different laser module configurations for various needs.
In addition, Ortur offers a total of 150 units of the Ortur YRR rotary roller; it will give one unit away a day for the first five orders each day.
Use coupon code AUFEROTOP1 at checkout to receive $5 off all products except the OLM-2 Pro. Hurry, there are only 50 of those coupons to use!
Bejeweled is one of those games that feels like it has been with us for most of our lives. For some people that is entirely true. But what was once the hottest of match-three games has been cloned and copied for years. Some versions, people may argue, are even better.
How does the casual puzzle game stand up today? Find out what Scott thinks of Bejeweled Classic in today’s podcast review.
Samsung has always been open to experimental form factors. The first Note series is a good example of the Korean giant hitting on something that wasn’t immediately met with positive reviews. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 is an evolution of that mindset.
Our friends at AT&T loaned us this latest edition. I was very intrigued on if my time with the Fold 3 would lean towards a similar reaction of this form factor is a trendsetting device. I think I’ve come to my conclusion in this full review.
The highlight of the Galaxy Fold 3 is very much the physical design. The wonders of technology are evident here for sure. Let’s start with the biggest part… literally. The folding screen is made of a flexible reinforced plastic screen. It’s a dual-layered 7.6-inch panel running at a 120Hz refresh rate.
That’s not the only screen though. On the front of the Fold 3 while folded, is another 6.2-inch display. Essentially, you get a very tall, skinny “regular” phone while the device is closed and a “smallish” tablet close to the size of the iPad Mini while open.
To create the fold you have a T-shaped, capped hinge. This houses the mechanisms to allow the unit to collapse safely into itself. While it looks trivial this truly is an engineering marvel to me.
Internally, you have some heavy horsepower. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 is powered by 12GB of RAM and a Snapdragon 888 5G SoC. Paired with 256GB or 512GB of storage and you have a monster device ready for anything.
The Fold 3 is a beast and it feels like it. The folding phone is a weighted tank in your pocket and chunky sitting on a desk. The best comparison is you are essentially carrying around two tall, skinny phones all the time.
One side has an array of buttons including the side-mounted power and fingerprint scanner along with volume keys. Around the other side is a lone SIM slot. At the bottom of the lower portion of the folded device is a single USB-C charging port and flanking the top portion is dual speaker grills.
The main camera of the Fold 3 is a triple array 12MP shooter. I honestly had a love-hate relationship with the lens while using the Fold. My best evaluation is inconsistent. I found that it can make decent shots under the right environments.
Outdoors in good lighting, the main camera can capture shots that have good coloring and sharp focus. Once you leave these ideal conditions, shots are a mixed bag. The images become less crisp and coloring less consistent. At times they even come out blurry like something is on the lens when it’s clean.
To keep the price down on an already expensive $1600, I’m sure Samsung made concessions here. However, on a third-generation model, I expected more. Samsung is established enough in the market that I think could have used a better sensor here.
You do however have the flexibility of telephoto and widescreen for additional shots. Both work decently just like they should. Telephoto helps when using portrait and the wide camera works great when you need to take in a better landscape capture.
At first glance, you may miss the front-facing camera. That’s because Samsung has cleverly hidden this under the display. You can see it more clearly when the screen is on, but with certain backgrounds, the camera does blend it well.
The sensor is only 4MP which isn’t great, but the company anticipates users taking the occasional video call only. For this instance, it’s more than adequate. I took a few Duo and Zoom calls and had zero issues. Honestly, in the world of bad laptop webcams, this one on the Fold 3 is more than enough.
There’s also another front camera for when the device is closed. If planning to go with a social media selfie, this is the sensor to take advantage of. This 10MP lens is much better suited for anything outside the realm of the occasional video call that the larger screen being open might benefit.
It’s been some time since I’ve used Samsung devices regularly. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed using One UI in its current form. The touch elements are all well thought out and built for larger displays that dominate the market even outside of the Fold 3. Honestly, many of the tweaks are now evident in the latest Android 12 release from Google.
But that doesn’t even talk to the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and some of the real treats Samsung has included. First is viewing mode that allows you to keep half the screen at a 90% angle while viewing video apps like YouTube. This creates a great base for watching content without the need for a second stand. It is a great way to leverage the folding abilities of the Fold 3 even if it limits the video to only a portion of the screen.
And that leads to the crux of my time with the Galaxy Z Fold 3. I have consumed considerably more content while using this device than any other phone or tablet I’ve owned in the past. The sheer convenience of essentially having both in my pocket at all times greatly influenced how I used it.
This has led to more YouTube and video binging. It’s rekindled my love of comic books. Reading documents is even better with the ability to split screens multiple ways. Overall, I’ve been impressed on how this has changed a usage spike I just didn’t see coming.
You can even add functionality with S Pen compatibility. We didn’t have this in our test kit but all signs point that this functionality is just as good as the Note line. I could easily see Samsung finding a way to include this in the next generation. Maybe they could use the void around the hinges to tuck away an S Pen?
Battery life has been average. Most days it will get me through a full day with no issues. If I’m out on a weekend and consuming more content, I had to hunt a charging a few times to top off the 4,400mAh cells. With this powering 3 total screens, I don’t find this an Achilles heel and expect Samsung to engineer ways to add to this capacity as tech evolves.
When you do need to top off the power banks all the normal culprits are here. You have both wired and wireless quick charge options. with the right combinations, you can charge to 50% in around 30 minutes or get a full charge in under 90 minutes.
I went into this review fully prepared to label the Galaxy Z Fold 3 as another gimmick device. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Now I’m literally contemplating if it’s my next personal smartphone. The instant flexibility in form factors packed into a single unit is enticing.
However, with that said. It’s not for everyone, and at $1800 full retail at AT&T for the 256GB model, it’s far outside the impulse purchase. If those things keep you timid to pull the trigger, I get it, but the Galaxy Fold 3 truly is a smartphone in its own league that deserves your attention.