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T-Mobile and Taco Bell team up for limited run T-MoBell locations

Andrew Allen
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The Un-Carrier and the 4th Meal are teaming up for a crazy deal on July 23. T-Mobile and Taco Bell have announced a joint 3-day event where you can get some spicy prizes and food, at participating pop-up stores aptly dubbed T-MoBell.

This co-branded experience builds on their previously successful free taco every Tuesday for T-Mobile’s Tuesday promotions since the Super Bowl.

The “T-MoBell” stores will be available in select locations in three major cities: New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

Those outside these cities won’t be left out in the cold, however. Everyone nationwide will have the chance to enter to win free tacos for a year . This is offered in the form of a $500 Taco Bell Gift card or smartphone swag for other winners.

As a guy who purchased a new debit card just for the Taco Bell discount, the mileage on $500 may vary.

These unique storefronts will be busy during the three days between July 23-25. T-MoBell will be offering a limited edition Freeze drink, free tacos, and one of kind branded merchandise to show your flare to your friends out there. There will also be celeb meet-and-greet signings for each location at the openings.

Each T-MoBell experience can be found at T-Mobile’s Signature Stores in New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Free tacos, Freezes, and giveaways will happen from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. daily on July 23-25. Here are some of the ways to peak your fun:

  • Get that camera app ready. On opening day, you’ll have a chance to snap a pic with surprise special guests at every T-MoBell location, including The Bachelor’s Colton Underwood at the Chicago T-MoBell!
  • Free tacos and an exclusive, co-branded T-MoBell Freeze – a colorful, disruption-flavored drink that tastes a lot like white cherry.
  • Seriously legendary T-MoBell merch including taco-themed socks to treat yo’ feet and a co-branded stick-on wallet to spice up your phone.
  • All the giveaways! Hang out in-store and get your chance at some fun swag. You may even score some sweet sunglasses or a Taco Foam Hat sure to snag the double taps on your ‘gram.

If you can’t make those locations the T-MoBell, then make sure to follow @TMobile on Twitter to have the chance at the $500 gift cards and prizes like PowerBeats Pro Earphones and the Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3 Speaker. For more information, you can always hit TMoBell.com to see the latest news.

How to properly Powerwash your Chrome OS device

Andrew Allen
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While we’d love to think our technology would work as it’s designed 100 percent of the time, there are instances where things get weird. Maybe your screen has a flicker, or your laptop trackpad stutters. A simple solution to problems like this with Chrome OS devices might be to Powerwash the unit.

What does Powerash do?

This is Google’s version of a factory reset on Chromebooks. It’s essentially re-flashing a fresh install of Chrome OS onto the computer, returning the software to its defaults much like the day you bought it. Powerwash is also a great way to prepare your Chrome OS unit for resale to make sure you don’t leave behind any personal information.

How to make it happen?

The steps for a Powerwash are fairly simple, but we will have to jump through some settings menus.

  • Open Settings from the control center in the notification shade
  • Click Advanced at the bottom of the main Settings window
  • Scroll to the bottom of the next screen and select Powerwash
  • Select Restart on the popup prompt

Fresh Chrome

Now, you should see your Chrome device reboot and complete the Powerwash process. From there, you have a fresh installation of Chrome OS. This takes your laptop back to its default settings and wipes all of your user data.

You will have to log back into all of your accounts and apps, but the best thing about Chrome OS is that most of your settings will be brought back down from the cloud. All of your wallpapers, icons, and settings will be reapplied once you log into your default Google account.

Taking it back to its bare bones removes all of the extra stuff you’ve picked up along the way. Sometimes a plugin or extension hangs things up and keeps the device from functioning properly. Be careful, as your device may look to add all of those back in immediately.

Powerwash’s recovery is one of my favorite things about Google’s desktop OS. Windows, Mac, and even Linux struggle with pain-free restoration after a fresh installation. Should things go sideways on your device, and you have to wipe it, the process is far more involved.

If you are nuking the hard drive to resell your Chromebook, it completely strips all your precious data for the next user. Easy stuff.

Qualcomm debuts Snapdragon 855+ processor for game-centric phones

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Qualcomm on Monday announced it has introduced a souped-up version of its Snapdragon 855 mobile processor. Dubbed the 855+, it features a more powerful CPU and GPU but relies on the same Kyro 485 CPU and Adreno 640 GPU.

According to Qualcomm, the 855+ is 15% faster at rendering graphics when compared to the current model. What’s more, it houses three times the power of a Snapdragon 845 mobile processor.

Clock speeds in the 855+ can get as high as 2.96GHz; other key features offered in the mobile chip include support for 4K HDR video capture, 5G support with LTE speeds up to 2Gbps, 3D sonic fingerprint technology, and 3D face recognition.

You’ll also get fast, smooth, and power efficient game play with our brilliant on-device Qualcomm AI Engine. Combine these advantages with true HDR gaming and premium audio, and you’ll get fully immersive, elevated experiences unlike any other.

Snapdragon Elite Gaming, a signature detail included here, is a mix of hardware and software designed to give gamers as “exclusive, competitive edge”.

As to when we’ll see phones with the chipset, it’s not exactly clear. Our gut tells us we’ll get them at IFA or in early September. It’s often around this time of year when select phone makers roll out something special for the last quarter.

Asus is the first manufacturer to say it will feature the Snapdragon 855+ in its forthcoming Republic of Gamers (RoG) Phone II . Stopping short of any other details, it only advises that the phone will be the “first” to do so.

This 13-course bundle is your ticket up the career ladder

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There are two main keys when it comes to effective product management. For starters, you need to make sure you have your life skills in order. Things like effective communication, collaboration, time management, and the like.

Equally important is the highly specialized side. Product management structures and philosophies, such as Lean Management, are incredibly valuable tools. So are backgrounds on Google Analytics, HTML5, CSS3, and other principles.

If you want to be the go-to person at your company, you’d be wise to start with The Complete Become A Product Manager Certification Bundle. This massive collection of 13-parts is valued at over $2,000 and is available now well over 90 percent off, just $39 from the AndroidGuys Deals Store.

Even if you’ve never started on the path to project or team management, this collection covers all the basics.

  • Leading Effective 1-on-1 Meetings ($200 value)
  • Skillsets to Shift Your Career to Product Management ($45 value)
  • The Complete MySQL Bootcamp ($199 value)
  • Advanced Product Management ($200 value)
  • Advanced Product Management #2 ($200 value)
  • Project Management Fundamentals ($200 value)
  • Lean Management ($200 value)
  • The Non-Technical Person’s Guide To Building Apps ($100 value)
  • Become a Product Manager ($100 value)
  • Mastering Collaboration ($200 value)
  • Applying Design To Wireframes with HTML5 & CSS3 ($10 value)
  • Google Analytics Certification ($199 value)
  • The Complete Career in Programming Course: Get a Great Coding Job! ($179 value)

This bundle has a taste of everything, including courses on project management, strategies for improving interpersonal skills, and database training. This limited time offer pulls together all of this training into one kit that’s cheaper than a date night dinner.

Best Sellers

Save even more!

For every $25 you spend in the AG Deals Store you get $1 credit added to your account. And, if you refer the deal via social media or an email that results in a purchase, you’ll earn $10 credit in your account.

First Time Buying?

If this is your first time buying, you are also eligible for 10% discount! Just be sure to subscribe for email updates.

Free Stuff

Not looking to spend any money today? No worries. You can still visit the AndroidGuys section for freebies and pick something anyhow.

iFrogz Airtime wireless earbuds are a solid entry into fully wireless

Andrew Allen
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Wireless is the latest and greatest way to enjoy audio while on the go. Smartphone and accessory manufacturers have all but anointed Bluetooth as the full-time replacement for the traditional 3.5mm headphone jack. iFrogz is joining the party with the Airtime fully wireless earbuds.

iFrogz has offered wired headset for some time and now the company is expanded into mobile wire-free audio. The company was kind enough to let me put the new Airtime earbuds through the paces over the last few weeks, and I came away pretty impressed.

Design

With a name like Airtime, you’d think these earbuds would be Airpod knockoffs, but that’s not the case. iFrogz went with a more traditional bud without the stem design that has become uber-popular recently.

Each earpiece has a nice LED ring around it for battery and pairing indicators. There’s also a silver iFrogz logo on each earbud. Aesthetically, I found the Airtime to be very pleasing.

I did have some slight issues with the fit for my ears, however. While this is completely subjective for each user’s anatomy, the portion of the bud that goes into the ear has a long angle to it that I found difficult to get the correct fitting for me. It’s not a deal-breaker but is worth noting for those that may have issues with this style of earbuds.

The Airtime are also water-resistant with an IPX4 rating. This should make it sweatproof and be able to survive light rains while running.

Sound and Controls

Once I got the iFrogz Airtime fitted and paired, it was time for the real test: sound. I’m happy to report that they exceeded my expectations. The audio from the Airtime is better than most earphones I’ve recently tried.

The Airtime have an 8mm driver in each earpiece and both have dedicated mics for simultaneous or individual phone calls. Bluetooth is on board, of course, with the 5.0 version that allows for quicker pairing and better connections.

The controls are also robust for the Airtime. A quick press play/pauses audio. Double-tap the left earbud and you go back a track while the same on the right takes you forward. A long-press, while music is playing, will allow you to change between three different EQ modes: Signature Sound, Podcasts, and Bass Boost.

The bass is punchy and has good stereo when using both earbuds. Mids and highs are also clear without being drowned out by the bass as well. This is really crucial for me. I’d much rather have a more muted bass for music listening than to have the bass overpower everything. You see this quite a bit in audio accessories, but iFrogz has struck a nice balance on the Airtime.

Call Quality

Calls on the iFrogz Airtime are also above average for me. Both ends of the calls had acceptable sound quality. The earbuds have several controls for calls too. A quick press accepts a call and a double-press while on the call will end the connection. You can reject a caller without answering with a long-press of the buds.

Battery Life

The iFrogz Airtime suggests a long battery life as the company rates the earbuds at three hours of playtime and 15 hours overall with recharges by the battery pack. The pack also has a quick charge function to get you 50% in under 10 minutes.

I found this to be pretty accurate for all of these stats. The quick charge was great when I needed it and the playtime duration is spot on as well. Overall, the battery life on the Airtime is super solid.

Final Impressions

I found the iFrogz Airtime to be a very good entry into the truly wireless space for iFrogz. They have a nice feature set, good sound, and admirable battery life. I wish that they personally fit me better, but as mentioned in that section of the review, that will vary greatly per user.

The Airtime are available for $59.99 direct from iFrogz website. They are offered in four different color options of white, black, blue, and peach.

T-Mobile offers up REVVLRY and REVVLRY+ for mid-range consideration

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T-Mobile on Tuesday announced its third generation of REVVL phones will arrive on July 19. The REVVLRY and REVVLRY+ run Android 9 Pie and offer consumers mid-range alternatives to the likes of Samsung and LG.

Although they sound similar, and do resemble each other at first blush, there’s quite a bit different between the two devices. This might be expected, though, when you consider the $200 and $350 prices.

Both are sold in black, feature face unlock and fingerprint sensors, and 3,000mAh batteries. Dig deeper and you see it’s more than just slapping on a bigger display.

Not only do you get a larger screen in the REVVLRY+, but you also end up with more memory and storage, faster charging speeds, and better cameras. And, instead of just being water repellent, the larger model is IP54 rated against water and dust.

Other differences sprinkled in include a wider range of supported network bands as well as a more robust processor. As opposed to a wider cutout notch display, the plus-sized variant has a water droplet screen.

Win prizes, including a free phone

To celebrate the arrival of the new phones, T-Mobile will host launch events at each of its six “Signature Stores”. Indeed, there will be interactive booths with chances to win prizes, including the two REVVLRY devices. Visit one of these locations on July 19 for your opportunity to walk away with cool stuff.

REVVLRY

  • Camera: 13MP RFC with LED flash/8MP FFC
  • Battery: 3000 mAh with 10W charging
  • Color: Black
  • OS: Android 9.0 Pie
  • Screen: 5.7” HD+ Max Vision (1520X720) 19:9 display
  • RAM: 3 GB
  • ROM: 32 GB
  • Bands: LTE CAT 6, LTE Bands 2,4,5,7,12,38,66,71
  • Security: Face unlock and fingerprint sensor
  • Water/Dust Resistance: Water repellent
  • Dimensions: 5.85” X 2.81” X 0.32”
  • Chipset: Qualcomm SD632
  • Processor: 1.8 GHz Octa Core

REVVLRY+

  • Camera: 16MP + 5 MP dual RFC with LED flash/12MP FFC + screen flash
  • Battery: 3000 mAh with 27W TurboPower charging
  • Color: Black
  • OS: Android 9.0 Pie
  • Screen: 6.24” FHD+ Max Vision (2270×1080) 19:9 display
  • RAM: 4GB
  • ROM: 64GB
  • Bands: LTE CAT 12, LTE Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 13, 20, 66, 71
  • Security: Face unlock and fingerprint sensor
  • Water/Dust Resistance: IP54
  • Dimensions: 6.24” X 2.96” X 0.34”
  • Chipset: Qualcomm SD636
  • Processor: 1.8GHz Octa Core

The REVVLRY will be priced $200, or $8.34 per month for 24 months; the REVVLRY+ is $350 outright or $14 down, $14 per month for 24 months.

These sweat-proof Bluetooth headphones are 71% off today

AndroidGuys
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Looking to step up your fitness this summer? It’s never too late to work on that summer body, right? The problem with a lot of today’s earphones is that once you get sweaty and moving about, they tend to slip out of the ear. Not the ZX3 headphones, though.

The ZX3 headphones, from 1VoiceNYC, pair over Bluetooth 4.1 and offer up to six hours of music playback per charge. Available in three colors, they’ve been discounted to just $19.99 right now, a savings of some 71-percent!

Not only do these look stylish and sound great, but they are sweatproof, too. Not resistant to water, mind you. These stand up to that salty stuff that comes with a rigorous run or workout. What’s more, they come with ear hooks to prevent them from falling out.

ZX3 Headphones Feature

  • Change track, volume, & answer calls w/ the function buttons on the earphones
  • 5-6 hours of play time on a single charge
  • Built-in mic
  • Bluetooth CSR 4.1 +EDR
  • Bluetooth range: 30ft
  • Battery: 100mAh per earphone
  • Talk time: 6-7 hours

Pick up a pair of ZX3 headphones in your choice of color: Silver, Gold, or Rose Gold. All three options have seen the respective prices dropped to just $19.99 for a limited time.

Best Sellers

Save even more!

For every $25 you spend in the AG Deals Store you get $1 credit added to your account. And, if you refer the deal via social media or an email that results in a purchase, you’ll earn $10 credit in your account.

First Time Buying?

If this is your first time buying, you are also eligible for 10% discount! Just be sure to subscribe for email updates.

Free Stuff

Not looking to spend any money today? No worries. You can still visit the AndroidGuys section for freebies and pick something anyhow.

How to enter and exit safe mode on Android phone

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Safe mode in Android is a way to boot your Android device with only the apps and settings that it came with out of the box. This means that when you boot your Android phone into safe mode, all third-party apps, widgets downloaded and set up, and any related system modifications are removed, leaving only the default system apps would be loaded.

Why does Safe Mode matter?

Safe mode is a quick and easy way to detect any problems that your device might be experiencing. Examples could include battery drain, performance degradation, or increased usage of data. It can also be used in cases where your phone is infected by malware or some kind of malicious program and you need to identify and remove it before it affects or steals your data.

In order to determine whether an app me be causing an issue on your Android phone, or to rule out a hardware-related problem, you can boot your Android phone into Safe Mode and use it for some time.

If you still witness the same problem(s) when using Safe Mode, it might mean that there is some issue with the hardware of your device. But, if your device is works without problems, it likely means that a third-party app installed on your device is the cause.

Once you have identified a software-related problem, you can boot into normal mode and investigate the apps you have recently installed or updated to find and uninstall the culprit. You can also directly uninstall the suspicious app from Safe Mode if you find out which one was causing the problems.

How to boot into Safe Mode

Here is how you can boot into, and out of, safe mode on your Android phone.

This can be done in two different ways based on versions of Android and your device model.

Method 1

  1. Long press the hardware power button on your Android phone until the power off menu appears.
  2. Long press on the software power off button on your screen until you get the safe mode option.
  3. Your Android device will now reboot and enter into the safe mode. You can verify this by noticing the safe mode text at the bottom left corner of your device.

Method 2

If you are unable to enter the safe mode on your Android device by using the above method, follow the below steps.

  1. Turn off your Android device by holding the power button and selecting the power off option from the menu.
  2. Once your device has been powered off, long press the power button to turn it back on and wait till you see the device manufacturer or the Android logo.
  3. Once you see the logo, press and hold the volume down button until your device reboots.
  4. Release the power button once your device has rebooted and you will now be entered into the safe mode.

How to exit the safe mode on Android phone

Unlike entering into the safe mode, exiting from it is common for all Android devices and it is quite simple. Just follow the below steps to exit from the safe mode on your Android phone.

  1. Hold the power button on your device until you get the power off menu.
  2. Select the restart option from the menu.
  3. Your device will now be rebooted and exit from the safe mode and boot into the normal mode.

If you are still having problems with your device, even after uninstalling the suspicious apps from your Android phone after exiting from the safe mode, before concluding that it might be a hardware or an Android operating system related issue, try doing a factory reset once.

Once you have done a factory reset, try using your device for a while to check whether the problem still persists. If yes, you may have to send your device to the manufacturer to perform further diagnosis.

If you have any questions about the processes listed above, let us know in the comments section below.

US Cellular offering free phones and at least $200 trade-in credits

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US Cellular is giving its customers the opportunity to pick up a free phone and $200 in trade-in credits.  The carrier’s so-called “Bigger than Big” deal is its most competitive offer yet and allows for some great phones at no cost.

To take advantage of the promotion a customer must port their number to US Cellular and sign up with the Unlimited Plus plan. What’s more, they need to purchase a qualifying device on a 30-month retail installment contact.

As of today the eligible free phones include the following: iPhone X, XR, XS, XS Max; Samsung Galaxy S10, S10+, S10e, Note 9; Google Pixel 3, 3XL and LG V40.

Looking at the fine print we see that the list of models with a guaranteed trade-in value of $200 includes iPhone 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus, X, XR, XS, XS Max; Samsung Galaxy S8, S8+, S9, S9+, S10e, S10, S10+; Samsung Note 8, 9; Google Pixel 2, 2XL, 3, and 3XL.

Digging a bit deeper, US Cellular says that the phone being traded in must power on and cannot be pin locked. It must be in full working condition and not have any liquid damage or broken components.

The carrier has a landing page to check out if you sign up and want to get credit for your trade-in. Note that the value you receive is applied after your phone is verified to be in working condition and comes in the form of a bill credit.

LG G8S ThinQ gets global release

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LG introduced its more affordable take on the G8 ThinQ flagship smartphone back in February of this year but it’s finally getting around to releasing the device. Indeed, the LG G8S ThinQ is ready to go on sale in Europe, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.

As LG puts it, the G8S ThinQ is designed for users “seeking a more bespoke smartphone experience.” Sounds great, but what exactly does that mean? From the sounds of it, it’s mostly related to the improved camera aspects.

The G8S ThinQ is designed to be used one-handed, which makes it much easier to snap selfies. Moreover, the front-facing camera has simulated studio lighting, leading to better portrait shots with added depth.

The big draw here, of course, is the rear camera configuration. With a triple-lens setup, the G8S has a wide angle lens — the widest field of view of any phone camera to date, at 137 degrees — and a standard and telephoto lens. Features include continuous zoom, bokeh effect, and video stabilization enhancement.

In terms of hardware, the G8S is quite similar to the standard G8 but with a lower resolution display. Powered by the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor, it packs 6GB RAM, 128GB storage,  and 3.5mm headphone jack. Its 6.2-inch OLED display has a 2248 x 1080 pixel resolution while the G8 has a 3120 x 1440 resolution.

The G8S ThinQ has MIL-STD 810 compliance and IP68 protection against dust and water. Rounding things out are stereo speakers, USB Type C, Android 9 Pie, and Bluetooth 5.0

Availability

Offered in three shiny colors (Mirror Black, Mirror Teal and Mirror White), LG hasn’t indicated pricing and exact availability just yet, advising they will be announced “locally”. As such, we suspect various markets and carriers will make their own respective announcements in short order.

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