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Google Pay finally unifies Androids fragmented payment solutions

Dan Bartram
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Googe has today launched a new payment solution called Google Pay. There are currently a number of payment solutions across the Google ecosystem from Android Pay to automatically filling out credit card information in Chrome.

Google says that the new Google Pay aims to combine all these different methods of paying into a single brand. Google says that with Pay it will be easier to use the payment information saved to your Google Account that aims to speed up the checkout process.

The company says that it aims at rolling out the Google Pay brand online and across various stores in the next coming weeks. You can also use the new branding for payments to pay friends.

It’s good to see Google unifying the payment solution and experience across its multiple platforms. There shouldn’t be any reason why my stored card information in Android Pay can’t be accessible when using Chrome on a desktop. It seems that Google Pay will fix this and make the experience more streamlined across the board.

You can check out the official Google blog for more information on Google Pay.

CES 2018: myCharge’s new battery pack lineup includes something for everyone

Alexandra Arici
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myCharge is a company known for its wide range of external chargers for smartphones, tablets and other devices. Well, just in time for CES 2018 the accessory maker unveiled a deluge of new battery packs designed to meet the most diverse needs.

Below, we’ll take a look at myCharge’s new products:

Razor series

myCharge has updated its popular Razor series for 2018. The new battery packs are going to be offered with the same sleek anodized aluminum bodies, but now feature new technology inside and a lot more power.

All the chargers in the Razor series include Qualcomm’s Quick Charge and Power delivery to ensure fast battery charging times for compatible devices. Interested parties can choose between:

  • Razor Mini (2,000 mAh) – $19.99
  • Razor Plus (4,000 mAh) – $29.99
  • Razor Max (8,000 mAh) – $39.99
  • Razor Xtra (12,000 mAh) – $49.99
  • Razor Ultra (16,000 mAh) – $59.99
  • Razor Mega (20,100 mAh) – $69.99

PowerGame

Love playing games on the Nintendo Switch? Make sure you prologue the life of your handheld gaming system with the PowerGame battery pack. The built-in 4,130 mAh battery of the Nintendo Switch should last users from 2.5 to 6 hours, depending on how demanding the game is. But thanks to the additional 7,000 mAh of the PowerGame, users can get up to 10 additional hours of game time.

The external juice pack can be easily attached to the backside, as to cradle the screen of the gaming device. Gamers will be able to get theirs for $49.99 a pop.

Solar Wallet

The Solar Wallet is a battery pack for the environmentally conscious. As the name indicates, the Solar Wallet is a collapsible powerbank that adds an extra 3,000 mAh of power. It compacts to 4.75 inches by 3 inches when folded, so it won’t take a lot of space in your bag or backpack.

The Solar Wallet is expected to go on sale in April 2018 with a price of $99.99 attached to it.

Unplugged series

Sick of carrying charging cables everywhere you go? Check out myCharge’s Unplugged series. These are Qi wireless charging devices with enabled Fast Charge technology and they come in two flavors: for charging at home and on the go.

charging at home

  • PowerDisk (5W charger) – $29.99
  • PowerDisk+ (10W charger with USB-A so wireless-enabled devices and wired devices can both be charged) – $49.99

charging on the go

  • Unplugged 4K (Qi-enabled with USB-A ports) – $39.99
  • Unplugged 8K (Qi-enabled with USB-A ports) – $59.99
  • Unplugged 10K (Qi-enabled with USB-A ports) – $69.99

All three models can be used to charge Qi-compatible devices by placing them on top of the power bank. Wired devices can get extra juice too via the USB-A ports (+a charging cable).

  • Unplugged Dual 10K (two charging coils) – $79.99

The Unplugged Dual 10K is the most versatile of the bunch. It can wirelessly charge a device, wirelessly recharge on a wireless disk, wirelessly charge a device and itself when stacked on a wireless charging disk or charge multiple devices at once via wireless and its USB ports.

Adventure Series

myCharge also introduced the Adventure Series which includes products ranging from rugged portable chargers to hubs and inverters that can power larger devices such as laptops and TVs.

  • Adventure Mini (3,350 mAh, features carabiner clip, Quick Charge) – $29.99
  • Adventure Plus (6,700 mAh, features carabiner clip, two USB-A ports, Quick Charge) – $39.99
  • Adventure Max (10,500 mAh, features carabiner clip, two-USA-A ports, Quick Charge) – $49.99
  • Adventure Ultra (13,400 mAh, aka Power Outlet, USB-A, USB-C and AC outlet charging ports) – $129.99
  • Adventure Xtreme (20,000 mAh, Portable Power Outlet, USB-A, USB-C and AC outlet charging posts) – $179.99
  • Adventure Jump Start (6,60 mAh, can be used to power up a dead vehicle including cars, trucks, boats, and ATVs) – $99.99

The Adventure series is currently available from the myCharge website, as well as other retailers like Best Buy.

Last but not least, myCharge offers one charger to rule them all. It’s called the All Powerful and bundles 20,000 mAh of additional power. It might not the as portable than the other battery packs above, but it features a USB-A port, USB-C port, an AC outlet. It also has a Qi-based wireless charging which allows it to pump power into compatible devices like the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.

According to myCharge, the built-in 65-watt AC outlet can juice up a 32-inch TV, most laptops, and even a camping fan or light. The All Powerful should go on sale in April 2018 for $199.99.

The Matrix PowerWatch X uses your body heat to power itself

Alexandra Arici
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There’s no denying that smartwatch battery life is a hot topic. A quick look at the web will reveal there’s a huge amount of complaining going on with regards to smartwatch battery life being sub-par, in general.

Most smartwatches out there can barely get through a full day’s use, but Silicon Valley materials company, Matrix Industries thinks it has the solution to the problem. And it’s showcasing it at CES 2018.

Say hello to the PowerWatch X – a smartwatch that you will never have to charge. It’s time to say goodbye to those annoying charging cords, because this smartwatch is powered by the wearer’s own body heat.

Last year in Las Vegas, Matrix Industries showcased the PowerWatch – a more rudimentary take on the whole electronics powered by body head concept.

Well, this year, the startup has returned with an improved model, the PowerWatch X, which we’re told, is going to start shipping to backers on Indiegogo this quarter.

Compared to its predecessor which could only tell time and count the steps, the PowerWatch X comes a step closer to being an actual smartwatch by adding the capability to display notifications from your smartphone. In reality, the PowerWatch X is not fully a smartwatch. For example, you can’t download and install apps from the Play Store like you can on the LG Watch Sport or any Android Wear 2.0 smartwatch for that matter, nor can you get heart rate readings or something of the sort.

On the bright side, the PowerWatch X can apparently provide the “most accurate” measurement for burnt calories by tracking the amount of heat your body produces. The smartwatch sports a pleasing rugged look and is also water-resistant up to 200 meters.

When you’re not wearing the PowerWatch X, the wearable goes into a sort of “sleep mode”, but all your data will be stored in the device’s memory, so you don’t need to worry about it being lost. You can keep the smartwatch in this “idle” state for up to two years.

The PowerWatch X is compatible with Android and iOS devices. If you find the gadget interesting, then you should know Matrix is already taking pre-orders for the device. You can secure one for $249 a pop.

ASUS Zenfone Max Plus has face unlock, big battery, it’s coming to the US this February

Alexandra Arici
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ASUS is also present at CES 2018 in Las Vegas this week with a few new products of its own. The company announced its Zenfone Max Plus (M1) smartphone is coming to North America this February.

It’s ASUS’ first 18:9 aspect ratio smartphone to be offered on the US market. Costumes will be able to get it for $229 and up.

Spec-wise the Zenfone Max Plus is a middle-range smartphone with a few interesting highlights. The phone comes with a 5.7-inch display with 2160 x 1080 resolution and the modern aspect ratio we talked about, a MediaTek MT6750T octa-core processor under the hood and 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. ASUS says a 4GB/64GB version will also be available in some markets.

Notably, the Zenfone Max Plus is the first ASUS smartphone to feature a face unlock functionality which allows the owner to unlock the phone by looking at the camera. We don’t know how secure this authentication method is, so if you want to make sure your private data is protected you can go ahead and use the fingerprint sensor on the back instead.

Another big selling point of ASUS’ new phone is the large 4,130 mAh battery, which according to the company can sustain up to 13 hours of video playback and 21 hours of web browsing over Wi-Fi.

The Zenfone Max Plus also packs a 16-megapixel front-facing camera and a dual rear camera which pairs a 16-megapixel sensor with an 8-megapixel one with 120-degree wide angle sensor. Connectivity options include 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, LTE Cat 6 modem, USB port, microSD card slot, headset jack and dual SIM card slots. It comes with Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box.

Garmin’s first smartwatch that can store music is the Forerunner 645

Alexandra Arici
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Garmin, a company which built its brand by selling GPS products has today unveiled a new smartwatch at CES in Las Vegas. It’s called the Forerunner 645 watch and it’s the first in its portfolio to offer music storage for offline usage.

Some of Garmin’s previous watches featured some basic music controls, meaning that users could play/pause songs from their watch. But those songs were played from the paired phone. Being able to store music directly on the watch is a feature that has been avidly request by fans and now Garmin is offering this feature on the new Forerunner 645.

The watch can store up to 500 songs, which can be transferred from your computer. Or you can download offline playlists from select music streaming services like iHeartRadio and Deezer. Unfortunately, at launch the big absentee is Spotify.

At a glance, the Forerunner 645 looks very much Garmin Vivoactive 3, which launched this fall, but the addition of a series of extra runner-focused training modes from Fristbeat including training analysis mode, training load guidance, and workout impact, differentiates the two models.

Other specs include a circular 1.2-inch color display with 240 x 240 resolution, steel bezel, always-on heart rate sensor, GPS/GLONASS, 5 ATM water resistance and Garmin Pay on-wrist contractless payment functionality, which currently supports financial institutions such as the Bank of America, Capital One, and the US Bank. The watch features physical buttons that allow users to control operations on board, instead of a touchscreen.

What’s more the Garmin Forerunner 645 can offer advanced running dynamics, including ground contract time balance, stride length, vertical ratio and more?

Users can also access to the Garmin Connect IQ app store which allows them to download apps directly on the watch.

Garmin’s new product is said to be able to provide up to seven days of battery life in smartwatch mode and up to five hours in GPS mode with music.

The new Forerunner 645 Music smartwatch will go on sale with a Black or Cerise band for the price tag of $449.99. A version without music capabilities will also go on sale for $399.99 with a Black or Sandstone band.

Sony ups its selfie game with the Xperia XA2 and Xperia XA2 Ultra

Alexandra Arici
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Sony today at CES 2018 unveiled two new middle-range phones from the XA line – the Xperia XA2 and Xperia XA2 Ultra – which bring some interesting capabilities to the table, especially in the selfie department.

But unlike other smartphone makes, Sony doesn’t seem to be rushing to jump on board the bezel-less 18:9 aspect ratio bandwagon.

Sony Xperia XA2

Don’t get us wrong, Sony’s new phones benefit from razor-thin side bezels (most Xperia do), but the bottom and upper ones continue to retain their usual bulkiness. That is not to say, some changes in design are not on the menu.

This time around, the fingerprint scanner is no longer embedded in the power button on the side but lives on the phone’s back. So at last, users in the US will be able to take advantage of this feature, as well.

When it comes to specs, the Xperia XA2 and XA2 Ultra are solid middle-ranges, both powered by a 2.2GHz Snapdragon 630 processor. The Xperia XA2 is the smallest one of the duo, coming with a 5.2-inch display with the standard 16:9 aspect ratio and 1920 x 1080 resolution, while the Ultra takes advantage of a 6-inch panel with the same ratio and FullHD resolution.

The two models differ slightly in the RAM + storage department, with the Xperia XA2 offering 3GB of RAM + 32GB of storage, while the Xperia XA2 Ultra bumps it up to 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Both models include a microSD card slot for memory expansion.

Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra

When it comes to photography Sony doesn’t disappoint. Both mid-rangers take advantage of a primary 23-megapixel camera capable of shooting 4K video and 120fps slow-motion clips.

On the front, the standard Xperia XA2 includes a 120-degree wide-angle, 8-megapixel camera to let you fit in more things in your shots, while the Ultra takes advantage of two selfie snappers – the same wide-angle one plus a second 16-megapixel sensor with OIS (optical image stabilization) for super-stable, super-clear selfies.

Besides selfie enthusiasts, music lovers might also take an interest in the new Sony phones. You see, the Xperia XA2 and Xperia XA2 Ultra come equipped with SmartAmp, a sound-enriching feature which should produce better sounding audio. Yet, don’t get your hopes up about stereo speakers.

Sony’s new phones rely on 3,300 mAh and 3,580 mAh batteries respectively, which should be good enough to sustain a full day of use. And Sony’s Qnovo Adaptive Charging promises fast charging times.

Unlike a lot of phones launching these days, the Xperia XA2 and Xperia XA2 Ultra will go on sale this February with Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box. Prices have yet to be announced, but we expect them to revolve around $300+.

Interested parties will be able to grab the Xperia XA2 in Silver, Black, Blue or Pink, while the XA2 Ultra will be offered in Silver, Black, Blue, and Gold.

Red Honor 7X will debut soon in the US

Alexandra Arici
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Bummed out that you can’t get the gorgeous Lava Red OnePlus 5T? Well, we have some good news for those still dreaming of owning a fiery red handset.

Present at CES 2018, Honor hosted a press event during which it shared some intriguing news. The company is already selling the budget but impressive Honor 7X on the US market but now has revealed that a limited edition Red version will be made available in time for Valentine’s Day this year.

The celebration of love takes place every year on February 14, so customers should be able to get the phone before that date. Only 20,000 units will be made available in the US, but also in Russia, India, UK, France, Italy and Spain.

The first 100 customers who place an order for the fiery Honor 7X in each of the countries listed above will be offered a pair of red co-branded Honor-Monster AM15 headphones for free.

The Honor 7X offers great value for money. Priced at only $199, the phone is one of the most affordable bezel-less smartphones with 18:9 aspect ratio out there. It features a 5.93-inch display with FHD+ resolution, a Kirin 695 processor aided by 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage and has a dual 16-megapixel+2megapixel camera on the back.

Right now customers in the US can pick up the smartphone in Aurora Blue or Midnight Black, but soon the Red version will be up for grabs too.

The Samsung Galaxy S9 bezel could get even smaller

Dan Bartram
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An interesting image of what is claimed to be the Samsung Galaxy S9 is making its rounds on the internet having popped up on Reddit earlier today. On initial glance, it looks to be just a regular Galaxy S8, but closer inspections will show that the bezel is actually even smaller than that on the S8.

The Galaxy S8 redefined the design of smartphones in 2017 moving to a near bezel-less display. Samsung seems to be pushing the boundaries even further with the Galaxy S9, if the leak is to be believed.

What is interesting is that Samsung have chosen to specifically keep the same bezels on the side of the device, while reducing the bottom bezel chin of the Samsung Galaxy S9.

Keen onlookers will also note the dedicated physical Bixby button that seemingly will be retained on the next flagship.

Despite the engineering efficiencies that have been made to further reduce a bezel many were already calling bezel-less, the focus of the Galaxy S9 won’t be hardware. It is suspected that the Galaxy S9 will focus much more on the software and artificial intelligence that is made possible by Samsung’s latest Exynos 9810 chip.

With the Galaxy S9 expected to launch next month, we won’t have long to wait to see the finished product.

How to disable auto-download media on WhatsApp

Dan Bartram
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Chances are if you have a smartphone, you use WhatsApp. The social messaging app is one of the most used on the planet, but it certainly has some annoyances.

One of which is the default behavior of insisting to download any piece of media that is sent to your device and save to your internal memory. This poses a couple of problems. The first being that this is a very quick way to unexplainably run out of storage space. The second, and my personal frustration is the type of media that is sometimes sent to me in a number of the groups I am in isn’t exactly something I want to be stored on my phone, let alone want to even see. Finally, it chews up a ton of data automatically downloading every video that you get sent.

Luckily, there’s a way to turn it off.

Simply launch WhatsApp and hit the three dots in the top right-hand corner. Go to Settings > Data and storage usage. Head down to network usage and you’ll find some interesting stats on how much data has been wasted downloading those random videos from your various chats.

To disable auto-downloading of media, tap “when using mobile data” under “media auto-download.” Check the kind of content you want to auto-download and switch off as necessary. You can do the same for videos and audio files as well. If you don’t want auto-download of images, even on WiFi, tap on the “when connected on WiFi” option, and repeat the same process.

You’ll still have the option of downloading the media when it is received but you’ll need to manually tap the download button to view it.

What’s the difference: Nokia 6 vs Nokia 6 (2018)

Alexandra Arici
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A year has passed since HMD unveiled Nokia’s first comeback smartphone in China, the Nokia 6, so this week the Finnish company has taken the wraps off an updated version of the phone destined to be sold in the same region.

The second generation Nokia 6 brings only a few improvements over its predecessor and in what follows we’re going to take a look at what sets it apart from the original version.

Exterior

At a glance, the Nokia 6 (2018) looks quite akin the original model, although a few key aspects have changed. The phone still comes featuring a 5.5-inch IPS fullHD display and is based on similar aluminum unibody design.

However, unlike last year’s model, the second-gen Nokia 6 has shed the physical home button located under the display, so the fingerprint scanner now resides on the phone’s back. Despite this change, the top and bottom bezels remain quite chunky and the phones still feature the less modern 16:9 aspect ratio.

On the back, the centered vertical camera is now surrounded by a sleek colored rim. This year, Nokia is offering the Nokia 6 in two stylish versions: black with copper highlights and white with rose gold accents. The original Nokia 6 was sold in Matte Black, Tempered Blue, Silver, and Copper, as well as an Arte Black Limited Edition version.

Interior

If last year’s Nokia 6 relied on a Snapdragon 430 (low-end 1.4GHz octa-core chip), the Nokia 6 (2018) makes the transition to solid mid-range territory by employing the help of a Snapdragon 630 (2.2GHz octa-core processor) – the same processor that powers mid-range phones such as the HTC U11 Life, Moto X4 or the ASUS Zenfone 4.

The original Nokia 6 launched with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, but the Arte Black version offered a more advanced 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage configuration.

The Nokia 6 2018, on the other hand, includes 4GB of RAM by default with either 32GB or 64GB of internal storage. Both models include a microSD card slot for memory expansion up to 256GB.

Battery capacity hasn’t been upgraded this year, so both models rely on a 3,000 mAh powerhouse to keep lights on.

Photography

Things haven’t changed much in the photography department either, except with a few exceptions. The new model still has a 16-megapixel (with f/2.0) sensor living on the back and an 8-megapixel (with f/2.0) front camera (with added 84-degree wide-angle capture for the new model).

But the second-gen Nokia 6 now includes an additional microphone to support Nokia’s OZO Audio’s spatial audio capture, a feature HMD also offers on the Nokia 8 flagship. On the downside, the phone lost the second speaker in the process.

Another feature borrowed from the Nokia 8 is the Dual-Sight mode or bothie mode. This allows the phone to simultaneously film what is in front of the device, while also recording selfie videos. Useful? It’s up to you decide, but it sounds like it would be fun to try at least once.

Other features

With the Nokia 6 2018, the company decided to ditch the micro-USB port in favor of the newer USB Type-C. The good news, however, is that the 3.5mm headphone jack is still on board the new model.

What’s truly disappointing about this new phone is that it launched with Android 7.1.1 Nougat out the box – the same software version the original Nokia 6 came with almost a year ago. Obviously, HMD said the phone will get the Oreo update soon, but that’s beside the point. Why are so few new phones launching with Oreo as default operating system when Google’s latest Android version has been out for months? We will probably never know…

Pricing

Like its predecessor, the Nokia 6 2018 will be a China exclusive device at launch. The 64GB version is expected to land in retail with a price of approximately $260 attached to it, while the 32GB model will be sold for around $230.

Currently, the original Nokia 6 is available in the US for $229.99 on Amazon, while the Arte Black version with 4GB of RAM is no longer on sale (it was priced at $299). So it seems this year, Nokia has priced the phone more competitively.

Even the Nokia 6 2018 will initially go on sale only in China, we expect it to land in the States, as well at some point in the future.

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