It’s that time of the year again when the worlds greatest compete in the Olympic Winter Games. Hosted in PyeongChang for 2018, it can be hard to keep up with all the events and what country is coming out on top. We’ve compiled some of the apps that you can use to keep up with the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. Some will focus on livestreams of the games, while others will offer roundup and highlights, so hopefully there’s something for everyone.
Eurosport
Why we love it
You can keep tabs on the latest scores, news coverage, and backstage events all from within one app with over 150 news articles daily.
The app doesn’t just cover the Winter Olympics and can be used as a one-stop shop for all your sports needs.
The app has an easy to use design and can even be used to watch live coverage for paid subscribers.
Using one of the apps above will allow you to follow the up to date events of the 2018 Olympic Events. There may be other apps that exist, but these are the ones that I’ve found to be the best and most polished. With similar functionality, it’s down to which apps provide the information in the best and most accessible format, and these apps are the standouts.
In the hunt for a new set of headphones or earphones as you double down on your New Year’s resolution? You’re still going to the gym, right? The weather’s about to break soon, and you’ll be out and about, soaking up some sun. What are you going to use to listen to music as you stay active?
Headphone maker IFROGZ knows that we love music, podcasts, and audiobooks. They also know that not everyone has a few hundred bucks to put down on a pair of high-end headphones. In fact, a lot of people we know are more likely to buy a cheaper pair and then replace them with another, or different inexpensive set. That’s exactly the market IFROGZ goes after with its most recent products.
Announced in late 2017, we were sent a media kit of five different pairs of Bluetooth IFROGZ headphones and earphones. Priced $34.99 at the most, the line features different colors and design choices to match your preferred style.
In addition to the various headphones, our box included some fun and interesting music-related items. There were stickers, cards that mimic local concerts, a t-shirt, and a press kit that called to mind vinyl record liners. All cool stuff, really, and it was encased in a box that automatically played a video when it was opened.
We’ve spent time listening to music, audiobooks, and various podcasts via the different models over the last few weeks and found them all to be solid offerings with appealing price tags. Here’s a quick overview as to how each of the IFROGZ headphones fit in the scheme of things and what you might expect. These are broken into in-ear wireless earbuds and on-ear wireless headphones.
In-ear wireless earbuds
Resound Wireless ($34.99 SRP) – Offered in rose or charcoal, these are the sort of earbuds you’ll want if you care about style and comfort. They’re lightweight, made from aluminum, and have an appearance that they’d be more expensive. Battery life is rated around 10 hours which is right in line with our findings.
Flex Force Wireless ($29.99 SRP) – If you like a headphone that drapes around your neck, you’ll appreciate the Flex Force earbuds. Lightweight and fairly low-key, these have magnetic earbud tips that stay put when not used. Look for these in either black or white.
Free Rein Wireless ($19.99 SRP) – Offered in black or white, these are more utilitarian and don’t focus on aesthetics so much as they do for just getting the job done. With solid battery life of five hours per charge, the 10mm drivers and wing tips fit nice and secure and deliver a decent audio experience.
On-ear wireless headphones
Resound Wireless Headphones ($34.99 SRP) – For those of you who like the on-ear approach and have an appreciation for music, consider these. You’ll get up to 20 hours of battery life per charge, and the 40mm drivers offer up a sound that betrays its low price. Use the built-in microphone for calls and use the on-ear controls; go with Bluetooth or the wired connection to help extend battery. Pick ’em up in black or red and enjoy their soft touch.
Toxix Wireless Headphones ($24.99 SRP) – If you’re not ready to commit to the Resound model, save ten bucks and opt for these. They’re essentially a slightly watered down version with 30mm drivers and 10 hours of battery. Like its counterpart, you can go wireless or wired and they also have on-ear controls. Find them in black or blue.
Where to Buy
You can learn more about IFROGZ headphones at its website; interested buyers can find various models offered at online and retail outlets as well as select wireless carriers. Shop: Amazon, Target, Walmart, Best Buy.
As with any flagship that is in the spotlight, it is extremely difficult for the company to keep every aspect under wraps. Some companies manage to do it pretty well, with only some of the features leaking out before launch. Others, like in the case of Samsung and the Galaxy S9, seem to haemorrhage information that leaves little to the imagination before the official launch.
Expected to launch at MWC 2018 next week, three videos have been released onto the Internet revealing all you’ll need to know about the Galaxy S9.
The first video showcases the slow-motion camera expected on the Galaxy S9 and the emphasises is placed on this showing off some extreme sports and high paced video, all shot on the new device. The focus on the camera quality continues as the low-light feature is highlighted in the next video.
Low-light performance is often the weakest point of any camera on a smartphone with arguably the Pixel 2 currently leading the pack. It appears Samsung intends to really challenge the industry leaders with the light-light performance being focused on with the Galaxy S9.
The final video highlights a feature that we could see coming a mile-off since the iPhone X launched with live emojis. When Apple announced the gimmick on stage we could see Samsung replicating something similar in its next generation of devices.
Sure enough, the Galaxy S9 is expected to come with its own annoying animated emoji feature and the video showcases this feature. While many will see it as a gimmick, it does highlight the increased capability at head tracking and facial recognition of the Galaxy S9.
It’s not long to wait until February 25 when the Galaxy S9 will be launched in all its glory and here’s hoping Samsung have at least kept something under wraps that will be of at least some surprise at launch.
Before Google’s Android Wear and the Apple Watch, a startup called Omate was developing its own smartwatches which ran a stripped-down of Android.
We haven’t heard much from the company for a while, but this week Omate (in partnership with Tata Communications) is back with a new smartwatch that’s aimed at children. Although geeks might take a liking to the kiddie-friendly device too. That’s because the Omate x Nanoblock comes with a fun strap adorned with colorful mini LEGO-like blocks. It’s super charming!
The Omate x Nanoblock is a colorful tracking device for children
The watch was basically created to help parents keep track of their kids and comes packing features like 3G for mobile connectivity, two-way voice chat and a front-facing camera for taking photos. The smartwatch comes equipped with Tata Communication’s MOVE loT Connect SIM. Parents can subscribe to a 1-year data plan which includes 100MB of data/month.
The Omate x Nanoblock also bundles an alarm, pedometer, and stopwatch, as well as location-based services, so parents can keep tabs on the whereabouts of their children through a companion mobile app. Kids can engage in chats and send out SOS alerts to their trusted contacts.
The smartwatch has a battery life of 3-days and can be recharged using a magnetic charger. It will be available both in black and white and will go up for pre-sale in April. The product will start shipping in June exclusively in the US and Europe. Pricing has yet to be disclosed, but Omate will share more details at MWC 2018 at the end of the month.
Though it was released back in the second half of last year, the ASUS ZenFone AR remains an intriguing device, sporting Google’s now-defunct Project Tango on board. Though Tango is gone, its spirit will live on in ARCore – and we can, perhaps, derive a few insights on the ARCore from the apps and functionality built-into Tango on the ZenFone AR. What follows is an honest and unbiased assessment of ASUS’ Project Tango phone, both in the perspective of the past and with the benefit of hindsight.
Build
The last few months of smartphone releases have seen a rather sudden about-face in design standards. Where we used to see unibody, milled alloy frames we now see full-body glass designs – Samsung, HTC, and LG are all firmly on-board that train, because absolutely no one pays attention to Apple’s terrible decisions from 2012, apparently. Crafting a shell out of of glass – no matter how “durable,” as if that’s a thing that a millimeter thick piece of glass can be – was an awful idea when Apple did it, and remains an awful idea with the iPhone X, Galaxy S8, V30, and U11/+. Glass frames may be gorgeous and feel fantastic and absolutely reek of premium, but let’s be blunt with ourselves – when you build a phone with glass, the first thing anyone is going to do is slap a case on it, eradicating all that Fancy in one fell swoop.
Fortunately, the ASUS ZenFone AR wasn’t released in the last few months, so it missed the memo. Instead of that shiny-but-fragile glass exterior that’s en vogue, it’s got the milled, alloy unibody of yester-month. In addition, the back surface is also covered in a soft, burnished black leather that’s quite delightful to the touch. I honestly didn’t know I wanted this in a phone until I handled the ZenFone AR – now I never want to put a case on it. Unfortunately, my review unit also came stamped with a Verizon logo (which is really a nice touch, but a carrier quite literally imprinting its name on a phone reeks of insecurity to me – and insecurity is not sexy), which hurts the aesthetic a little.
Carrier interference aside, the ZenFone AR is a handsome device – sturdy in the hand and with a feel that’s truly pleasing in-hand. I can’t say there’s many phones I’ve touched just to feel them in my hand, but this is one of them. The phone is mostly made of sleek, clean lines, with two exceptions – the camera bump, and the fingerprint sensor. The former of these is understandable; in a phone that has invested so heavily into its camera – detailed below – it’s perfectly reasonable that it’ll have a larger-than-average impact on the overall frame of the phone. The camera itself is surrounded by a heavy-duty-looking metal plate, which gives it almost an industrial look.
Now for that latter problem; instead of a soft button, a la OnePlus, or a recessed hard-key, like LG’s V30, the fingerprint sensor/Home button is a raised, rectangular hulk of a key that shatters the otherwise elegant profile so lovingly crafted by ASUS.
In older Android devices, we saw a lot of protruding physical buttons – the original devices even had trackballs. But for the most part, we’ve seen a shift to capacitive, software or (at the very least) flat buttons in lieu of physical ones to keep the sleek profile and flat surfaces of a phone unblemished. Why, then has Asus deigned it necessary to have a physical button as its fingerprint sensor/Home button? On a phone with a front face that’s otherwise 100% smooth, there is one, single rectangular button that crushes the dream. Asus likely made it protrude to make the sensor easy to find by touch – and I totally accept that design logic. But after using the OnePlus 3T and its flat, capacitive fingerprint sensor rimmed by a barely-perceptible plastic bumper, the ZenFone AR’s solution just feels like a blunt instrument.
Display
The display on the ASUS ZenFone AR is among the prettiest I’ve ever seen on a smartphone, point blank. It doesn’t have the edge-to-edge display or the 18:9 aspect ratio that’s become so popular since the Galaxy S8 was released, but the quality of the display itself is excellent. At 5.7″, the Super AMOLED screen displays colors with startling vibrancy and, while the 2560 x 1440 resolution renders graphics with great clarity. It’s got solid maximum and minimum brightness settings, performing equally well in bright sunlight and darkened rooms.This performance can possibly be attributed to ASUS’ integrated Tru2Life technology – which sounds suspiciously like a buzzword, but it can call it whatever it likes when the screen looks this good.
Build-wise, the display is a little disappointing when viewed through the lens of modern trends. It’s got a mere 79% screen-to-body ratio, which is a fairly far cry from the 90% we’re seeing on newer releases. Viewed from the time of release, though the display is perfectly adequate. ASUS went with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 on the ZenFone AR – always a good decision when looking to shore-up the (relative) durability of a smartphone’s display. It likely won’t survive a direct drop, but Gorilla Glass 4 is definitely scratch resistant and weathers everyday use admirably.
Internals
When it comes to internal hardware, the ZenFone AR is an interesting beast. It runs a Snapdragon 821 processor with a whopping 8GB of RAM (6GB on the lower tier model), meaning that it can handle all but the most system-intensive apps and multitask like an absolute champ, even in split-screen. Two iterations of Snapdragon processors have hit the market since the 821 was released (with the 845 having just been announced in December), but the 821 is no slouch. Even when pitted head-to-head with LG’s latest and greatest – the V30 – ASUS’ ZenFone AR more than holds its own. While it isn’t quite the bleeding edge, the 821 is still a formidable processor in today’s market. It’s the same chip used in the original Pixel, OnePlus 3T, and LG G6, and a step up from the 820 used in the Galaxy S7, LGV20, and Moto Z Force. The upper tier of the ZenFone AR also features 128GB of storage (64GB on the lower); more than I, personally will ever need and more than enough for most users.
In terms of connectivity, the AR features modern, though not bleeding-edge, standards; Bluetooth 4.2 and 802.11ac Wi-Fi. It would have been great to see Bluetooth 5, since the standard became available for implementation last year – and, apparently, can be enabled via software update – but we can’t rightfully blame ASUS for going with the more mature 4.2 standard when the ZenFone AR was released back in July.
The USB-C connector on the ZenFone AR features QuickCharge 3.0 and BoostMaster Fast Charging which, according to Asus, can take the AR’s 3300mAh battery from 0 to 60(%) in just under 40 minutes. Not quite the speed of Dash Charging on OnePlus phones, but still impressive. That same USB-C connector is also Display-Port compatible, meaning it supports Video Over USB – something that early USB-C adopters like the Nexus 6P didn’t support, much to my chagrin.
Sound-wise, ASUS throws a bunch of buzzwords at consumers to make the ZenFone AR sound like an audial beast; 5-magnet speakers (how many magnets to smartphone speakers normally have?), 140% louder (than…what, exactly?), 17% low-frequency extension (what, even?), and 7.1 channel virtual surround sound (hey, I know what that means!). In practice, the AR’s speakers are noticeably louder than those on my trusty OnePlus 3T, and there’s even a toggle-able “Outdoor Mode” that boosts volume further for use in loud environments – though, why they didn’t just make that boosted volume the top-end of the volume slider, I’ll never know (maybe ASUS’ version of turning the volume up to 11, perhaps?).
The AR also sounds fantastic when plugged into good quality headphones – so while I can’t independently confirm the fancy buzzwords above individually, I can sing the praises of the sound performance of the ZenFone AR as a whole – it’s great. Best, perhaps when plugged into the 3.5mm jack with a high-end, over-ear headset to take advantage of those aforementioned buzzwords, but solidly performing regardless of how you listen – be it the internal speakers, Bluetooth buds, or a full-size headset.
Camera
Craziest camera sensor ever.
Aside from – or perhaps because of – Project Tango, the ZenFone AR’s most impressive feature is its camera – or rather, cameras. Many higher-end phones these days have dual rear cameras for producing Bokeh and Depth-of-Field effects; the ZenFone AR adds one more. The primary sensor is a 23MP beast designed to make your photos look as good as the real world does to your eyes. The other two sensors are more specialized; a depth sensor and a motion-tracking sensor. Individually, these sensors are neat little tricks – combined, though, the trifecta allows the ZenFone AR to track itself in space, measure distance, and – in ASUS’ words – “…to a create a three-dimensional model of its surroundings and track its motion, so it can see the world just like you do.”
In practice, I’ve found the camera to be very impressive, albeit a bit convoluted. There are a total of 17 modes across the rear and selfie cameras, each with its own set of completely customizable options; Auto, Manual, HDR Pro, Beautification, Super Resolution, Children, Low Light, QR, Night, Depth of Field, Filter, Selfie, Panorama, Miniature, Time Rewind, Slow Motion, and Time Lapse. Some of these (like QR, for example) are so wonderfully obvious its a small marvel that Google’s own AOSP app doesn’t have it yet, while others (Child) seem like they should have been left on the cutting room floor.
Modes
Automatic: Detects the environment and dynamically scales settings for the best possible image. In my experience with the camera, this setting works well for 90% of all the pictures you’ll take.
Manual: Tweak all the settings in the Automatic mode (of which there are Legion) to your heart’s content to find that perfect shot.
HDR Pro: “Expands the dynamic range and enhances details in high-contrast or strongly backlit screens” – think shooting into the sun. Honestly, I didn’t notice a whole lot of difference with this mode from Automatic.
Beautification: Takes your face – with all its beautiful flaws and perfect imperfections – and makes you look like a china doll. When people talk about Instagram filters ruining our perception of beauty, this is what they’re talking about.
Super Resolution: According to the description of this mode, the camera takes multiple shots and stitches them together to form the best possible image – which sounds a lot like the HDR Burst that Google uses, with a different name.
Children: This mode takes a picture of people’s faces when they stand still for a moment – why it’s called Children mode, I don’t know. But it works as advertised.
Low Light: Rather self-explanatory; this mode enhances light sensitivity for clearer pictures in low-light environments without using the flash.
QR: This one should be in literally every camera app known to man. Scan a QR code.
Night: This mode features a slower shutter speed – and longer exposure – to capture more light in night-time shots.
Depth of Field: This is what the cool kids are calling Bokeh – in-focus foreground, out of focus background.
Filter: Apply one of a dozen or so overlays to your photos.
Selfie: While it sounds fairly standard, this mode is actually one of my favorites. Using the 23MP rear camera and its sensors, the ZenFone AR detects a number of faces you determine, then starts an audible countdown when everyone is in focus. Very useful for taking group selfies.
Panorama: Android’s had this one a while.
Miniature: As someone that likes to paint pewter and plastic miniatures, I assumed this one would help me take pictures of them – in reality, it’s designed to make life-sized objects look like small-scale model. Why? I’m not actually sure.
Time Rewind: This mode essentially functions as a pre-emptive burst, taking photos up to 3 seconds before and a full second after the shutter is pressed. The phone automatically analyzes the resulting images and shows you the best one – but allows you to choose from any of them. Very interesting, though I have not found a real-world application for it yet.
Slow Motion: I was really happy with the result of this mode, which is like standard video, but slows down fast-moving objects into slow-motion.
Time-Lapse: A classic. Renders video in a slower-than-normal framerate and plays it back at normal speeds, so it looks like time is moving much faster than normal.
Project Tango
The idea behind Project Tango was great; pair robust, innovative hardware with software to turn your phone into an augmented reality playground sophisticated and fine-tuned enough for games applications alike. Google saw Tango as a platform that would revolutionize gaming, design and, really, how we interact with the world. Though no longer in development (having been unceremoniously dumped for ARCore last year), we can still glimpse what Tango could have been by exploring the fledgeling ecosystem in the last of the ‘Tango’s – the ASUS ZenFone AR. Even with the project dead, Tango still has a number of functional apps and games still available for download; games. floor-plan mapping, interior design, and virtual reality are all represented in the Store, making use of the ZenFone AR’s additional sensors to craft immersive experiences.
In practice, though, it’s easy to see why Google decided to go in a different direction. Project Tango is a cute trick, but it hardly justifies the need for a ridiculously high-tech camera on a phone that will likely not make near enough use of it. Project Tango, as shipped on the ZenFone AR, is a niche product – it was never going to make a splash with the common consumer, and probably not even with its intended audience. Google’s new solution, ARCore, shouldn’t need the specifications that Tango did – and as such, will not require the (likely expensive) extra hardware that ASUS managed to admirably cram into a smartphone.
Value
At $600+, the ZenFone AR is no budget phone – but with a strong CPU and 6GB of RAM (at minimum!), it still competes with some of the heavyweights on the market at a price that’s a bit lower than most of them, with the added benefit of the very impressive (albeit now-defunct) Google Tango technology. With Tango no longer in development, this is a hard purchase to justify, but the ZenFone AR is an extremely well-performing phone for its price point with gorgeous build quality, an impressive camera, and a beautiful display.
Cricket Wireless on Wednesday launched a new, limited-time promotion which sees its Unlimited 2 plan being slashed to $40 per month. Reserved for new customers, this represents a savings of $15 per month; it’s usually $55/mo. for the same plan.
How to qualify
Customers interested in the deal must port their phone number into Cricket and sign up for the Unlimited 2 plan. Cricket will give subscribers a $10 bill credit each month for one year. The other $5 discount comes in the form of signing up for the Auto Bill Pay.
via: Cricket
The Unlimited 2 plan offers:
Unlimited calls, texts, unlimited data and picture messages when calling to and from Mexico, Canada and the U.S. (Minimum 50% U.S. usage required.)
Unlimited data access, calls, texts and media messages across the U.S.
Unlimited texts from the U.S. to 38 countries.
Fine Print
Data speeds are limited to 3Mbps down with video streaming at 1.5Mbps. Moreover, should one go over 22GB of the “unlimited data” in a billing period, Cricket will slow speeds during congestion. AT&T subscribers do not qualify for the porting discount.
The promotion runs from February 16 through April 12 and it can be combined with other offers.
Google announced today that its YouTube TV service is expanding to more cities, as well as adding a list of new channels to its lineup.
The new crop includes TNT, Adult Swim, TBS, CNN, Cartoon Network, truTV and Turner Classic Movies. What’s more, sports lovers will be thrilled to hear that NBA TV and the MLB Network will join YouTube TV’s base package. The ability to subscribe to NBA League Pass, for watching out of market live games, and MLB.TV will also be available in the coming months for an extra fee.
Furthermore, YouTube TV is branching out to all top 100 US markets including Lexington, Dayton, Honolulu, El Paso, Richmond, Syracuse, Springfield, Columbia, Harlingen, Wichita, Wilkes-Barre, Scranton and more. With the latest expansion, Google is bringing the service to over 85% of US households. You can click here to see whether the service is available in your area.
YouTube TV is getting more expensive come March 13
Unfortunately, it’s not all good news. Google will also be increasing the subscription price from $35 to $40/month starting March 13. However, those of you who have already signed-up with YouTube TV will continue to pay the original sum. So you still have a few weeks to subscribe and be allowed to keep the $35/month rate. But you should you spend your money on YouTube TV? It’s up to you, really.
But we’re taking the opportunity to remind you that the service boasts more than 50 channels including ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, AMC and FX and local sports networks from Fox Sports and NBC Sports. It also comes with unlimited cloud DVR, new big-screen apps for Roku and Apple TV to easily stream content on your TV and the option to add six users on a shared account.
Of course, the competition is pretty fierce in the streaming TV space – DirecTV Now, PlayStation Vue, Hulu Live TV, and Sling TV are all aiming to enter your graces. But Google thinks it can make YouTube TV standout by offering a great channel selection and great features, but also quality and stable signal.
Winter is almost over and with the promise of spring and new beginnings comes a renewed disposition to make plans for future travel adventures.
If you already have a few ideas about where you’d like to go next, you can start booking your trip. And, with the help of a few apps, you can qu.ickly get an idea of how much money you’ll need to invest or what you might want to see when you get there.
Below you’ll find a list of relevant apps to assist you with making plans and preparations for your next trip.
Skiplagged
First thing’s first. You need to find affordable airplane tickets. There are lots of apps out there claiming to be able to find you the cheapest flights available. But Skiplagged takes advantage of a special trick called “hidden city ticketing”.
Basically, you book a flight past your destination, with your target destination as a stop on the route, and pay less than if you would fly directly. Skiplagged will show you such hidden deals. Let’s say you’re looking to get from Milwaukee to Detroit, but the app shows there are flights from Milwaukee to St. Louis with a stop in Detroit for a lot less.
So you book the MKE to STL flight and just not get on the connecting flight after it lands in Detroit. It sounds a bit unethical, but it works! Obviously, there are some risks, not to mention inconveniences. For example, you won’t be able to check a bag, or it will end up being dispatched to your destination city.
It’s also worth mentioning, airlines do not approve of this practice. US Airlines actually filed a lawsuit against Skiplagged a few years back, but if you’re willing to look past these issues, you can get Skiplagged a try and see what fairs it can find for you.
Now that you’ve got yourself a cheap flight, the next item on your list should be finding accommodation. Agoda is an app which helps you uncover the deepest discounts on hotel rooms, homes and more.
Search for low rates by browsing through Agoda’s database of 1,400,000+ hotels, villas and BnBs. You can get additional discounts of up to 80$ from Insider Deals, Last-Minute Deals or Secret Deals.
Looking for something even more affordable? The Hostelworld app is your gateway to accommodation on the budget. The app includes select locations from 170 countries and comes with additional features such as “My Trips” offers travelers the opportunity to discover the best things to see and do at their destination before they arrive.
Hostelworld also has a neat social component called “Hostel Noticeboard that lets you meet up with new friends and get involved in local events and parties.
Ok, you know where you’re going, you have the tickets and you know where you’ll be staying. But what tourist attractions are you going to visit?
If you don’t know much about your destination, maybe it’s time you download Guides by Lonely Planet. This is a collection of expert-curated city guides that you show you the best places to visit. Everything works offline, so you don’t need to be connected to the Internet to access the information within (including maps).
The app also offers a selection of audio phrasebooks for 19 languages, which might come super in-handy when you’re trying to interact with the locals, as well as a currency converter.
Hey, but what about those travelers who are required to go on a last minute trip? Is there an app for them? Of course, there is. Take for example Freespace, an app which aims to ease the stress of having to secure accommodation for an unplanned trip.
With Freespace, you can get a room on location! By using the “Here and Now” tool, users can find the most attractive prices and book a nearby room in four easy steps.
Want to make sure you have all the info related to your trip? Use the Checkmytrip app to bring all the relevant info together.
Simply add the trips to your calendar and easily share them with your trip buddies and friends. Checkmytrip will also send notification for flights and let you access online check-in for major airlines.
Trip coming up? Make absolutely sure you haven’t forgotten anything with the Packing List for Travel app.
Design your Packing list, add items and check them off once you’ve packed them. You can also view items by category (ex: beach) or topic (ex. gadgets) so you can ensure you’re not leaving any essentials behind.
Back in December, ZTE announced it was working on the Android 8.0 Oreo update for its highly acclaimed Axon 7 smartphone.
Fast forward a few months later and the Chinese company today announced it has opened the Android 8.0 Oreo beta program for Axon 7 users in the US.
You can join the beta program now
So if you want to try out the Oreo experience on your smartphone before everyone else, ZTE invites you to register for the program through its Z-Community.
Launched two years ago, the ZTE Axon 7 originally launched with Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box. Since then it has been updated to Nougat and soon it will make the transition to Android 8.0 Oreo.
ZTE has been listening to users’ feedback, so it will implement a near-stock Android Oreo version on the Axon 7. Users who sign up for the program through Z-Community can expect to take advantage of the following Android O features and more:
Improved battery life
Picture-in-Picture mode for viewing two apps at once
Google Play Protect – a tool which ensures device safety
Notifications dots
Faster boot speed when powering the device
Android Instant Apps
Autofill
Minimize background activity in apps not frequently used
Participants in the Android 8.0 Oreo beta program are required to offer feedback on their experience using the new software version on the Axon 7. And if everything goes well, the public release should be with us shortly.
In related news, ZTE is gearing up to unveil the Axon 9, the direct successor of the Axon 7. It’s taken ZTE two years to do so, but the company confirmed we can expect to see the flagship make a debut later this year. When exactly that will happen, we don’t know at the moment.
According to recent rumors, the ZTE Axon 9 is expected to arrive with a bezel-less display and a Snapdragon 845 processor with 6GB of RAM in tow.
Interested in buying an LG V30 / V30+ or LG G6 from T-Mobile? If the answer is yes, then this might be the right time to do so. The carrier in partnership with LG is offering an LG MiniBeam Projector (PH150G) for free with the purchase of one of the three smartphones.
LG is currently selling the projector for $249.99, so you’ll be getting an expensive gift free of charge. The device connects wirelessly to a smartphone or tablet to project HD content on screens up to 100 inches / 2.5 meters. The embedded battery should last up to 2.5 hours of playtime, giving users enough time to watch a full movie.
Hurry up if you want to take advantage of the promo
The promotion runs until February 22 and is available only for permanent US residents at least 18 years of age. You’ll have to purchase one of the LG phones on a T-Mobile installment plan, after which you need to redeem your gift by March 8.
The LG V30 is available at T-Mobile for $80 down and then $30/month for 24 months, while the LG V30+ – the version with more storage (128GB) can be yours for $130 down and then $30/month for 24 months. The older LG G6 is a bit more affordable and you can grab it for $22 down and $22/month for 2 years.
Even if the offer sounds good, you might want to wait a bit, as LG will launch a new version of the V30, one that comes with an AI-powered camera at MWC 2018 towards the end of the month.
