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The NVIDIA SHIELD TV increases dominance of the 4K market with it’s latest update

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With purchase prices for 4K TVs becoming evermore affordable, the ability to stream 4K content is becoming as essential as it is desirable.

With 4K TV adoption continuing to rise and more and more 4K content being made available, there is one standalone device in today’s market that most certainly has your back.

The NVIDIA SHIELD TV

When it comes to viewing 4K, in our opinion you can’t do better than NVIDIA SHIELD. Powered by the Tegra X1 processor, which supports a plethora of high-end features, SHIELD is hands down the best streaming media player for 4K content.

With its latest update, Google Play Movies and TV joins Netflix, Amazon Video and many other apps in supporting 4K content on all SHIELD TVs – extending the already impressive leadership when it comes to 4K entertainment.

Wait, there’s more – SHIELD TV now supports Cast in 4K so 4K apps and content can now be cast from your mobile devices directly to SHIELD.

With GPM & TV now joining the ranks of SHIELD, this cements its current position as the best streaming media player for 4K content on the market today.

See exactly how SHIELD stacks up against the competition:

If you ever needed a reason to make that jump from HD to 4K and streaming is your thing – This is it right here.

10 cool tech gifts to give your mom on Mother’s Day

Alexandra Arici
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Mother’s Day is just around the corner. Surprise mom this year with a unique tech gift, instead of the same clichéd spa certificates and flowers. Sure, moms might not be the first persons who come to mind when you think gadgets, but an inspired gift can show mom tech can be both fun and extremely useful. So in what follows – we’ve assembled a list of irresistible tech gifts even moms would love.

Withings Steel HR Special Edition

Introduced especially with Mother’s Day in mind, the Withings Steel HR Special Edition is a stylish hybrid smartwatch that shows smartphone notifications for calls or texts, but can also track your daily activities like walking, running or number of calories burned. Have a mom that wants to get in shape in time for this summer’s beach holiday? The Withings Steel HR Special Edition is exactly what she needs. On top of that, Withings takes care of the gift packaging as well, by shipping the smartwatch in a stylish gift box which includes the wearable with an Italian hazelnut strap plus an additional silicone one and a charger. The product is available for approximately $229.

Kindle Oasis

Does mom like to read? Then the Kindle Oasis will probably make for a perfect beach companion. The thinnest and lightest Kindle to date, can be easily carried in a beach bag or in a backpack. It features a high-resolution 300 ppi display and enhanced lighting. On top of that, its dual-battery charging system ensures the eReader can last for months on a single charge. Oasis also ships with a high-quality leather cover in black, merlot or walnut. The e-Reader can be bought for $289.99.

Google Home

Google’s voice-controlled smart speaker is a wonderful addition to any household. It’s intuitive to use and mom will certainly appreciate the extra help around the house. Or at least the additional “company”. The Google Assistant onboard can prove to be quite the conversational partner, as it can answer questions or tell a few jokes. It can also play music, set timers and control connected appliances across the house including smart light bulbs. It’s available for only $129.

HButler charging purse

Mom might not be a tech nerd, but she still carries a phone or maybe two and along with them a few charging cables. But what if you could charge your phone on the go without having to depend on a power outlet, wouldn’t that be nice? Well the HButler line of purses house a lightweight rechargeable battery of 4,000 mAh capacity. These purses include a hidden USB cable to charge the bag, and a cable to recharge the handset. There’s a wide range of HButler bag collections to choose from and the cheapest will cost you $89.95.

Michael Kors Access Reade Activity Tracker

What mom does not love jewelry? Michael Kors’ lineup of Access Reade activity trackers is what happens when you blend technology with fashion design. The tracker will help users track steps, calories, distance traveled and sleep cycles, while looking extremely gorgeous in the process. It can also control music, take a photo and ring your phone. The Reade is available in Rose Gold and Gunmetal and can be acquired for $145 a pop.

Meural Canvas

Meural Canvas is a very interesting product. It would be perfect as a gift for a mom who loves art and likes to collect paintings. Actually the Meural Canvas is a digital frame that hides a collection of up to 30,000 paintings. With the help of the smartphone companion app, mom can change the Pollock in the dining room into a Van Gogh by virtue of a simple gesture. The Meural can ship with a black, lightbox or white frame and starts $595.

HiMirror

In an era where most devices launching on the market are smart, we shouldn’t be surprised to see a smart mirror too. The HiMirror has a camera attached on top in order to assess your skin’s condition, including wrinkles, fine lines and dark circle. Before you say anything, it’s not a product that will end up making mom feel bad. On the contrary, based on the analysis the HiMirror will create a personal improvement plan which will include skincare tips, skin progress comparison and so on. The HiMirror is currently on-sale and can be acquired for $189.

Isobel phone crossbody

Want to make sure mom never forgets her smartphone at home? She surely won’t with this stylish Rebecca Minkoff phone carrying little bag. It’s available in Black and you can get it for $145. Ensure mom looks chic, while always remembering the essentials.

Oral-B Pro 7000 SmartSeries Toothbrush

If watches can be intelligent, so can toothbrushes. The Oral-B Pro 7000 SmartSeries Toothbrush will help mom keep track of her dental hygiene. Once connected to the smartphone companion app, the brush will send relevant information including whether you’re brushing in the right places, pressing to hard of brushing enough. It’s available for $135 on Amazon.

Misfit Link

Don’t have a large budget this year but you still want to get mom something nice? How about a nice, discrete fitness tracker? The Misfit Link is one of the most affordable fitness companions out there and despite the low price – has a few tricks up its sleeve.  The device can be clipped to a piece of clothing and is capable of tracking steps, distance, calories and sleep cycles. Grab it for $15.

ZTE MAX XL now available at Boost Mobile for $129.99

Alexandra Arici
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On top of announcing the ZTE Blade Max 3 today, the Chinese company has also introduced the new MAX XL handset which will be available at Boost Mobile for $129.99 a pop. However, if you hurry up and purchase it online you’ll be asked to spend only $101.99.

For this amount of money customers will get a 6-inch IPS display with 1920 x 1080 resolution and Gorilla Glass 3 for protection. On the inside powering the phone, there’s a Snapdragon 435 working in combination with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in storage (microSD card slot available for memory expansion up to 128GB).

Unlike the ZTE Blade Max 3 unveiled earlier today, the ZTE MAX XL does not feature a dual camera setup onboard, but rocks a singular 13-megapixel main camera and a 5-megapixel selfie one.

ZTE’s latest handset for Boost Mobile is also said to support Sprint’s High Performance User Equipment Standard (HPUE) which means increased coverage, more capacity and faster network speeds. We should also note, the phone has a fingerprint scanner located on the back and a hefty 3,990 mAh battery.

The device runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat right out of the box, unlike the other new ZTE phone which is stuck at Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

Boost Mobile will also be able to acquire the handset with the carrier’s 2GB plan that offers unlimited talk, text for $30 with auto-renew or $35 without it. Or they can grab it on Boost’s Unlimited Gigs Plan too with starts at $50 per month.

ZTE Blade Max 3 dual-camera phone lands at US Cellular

Alexandra Arici
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This week ZTE is extending its product portfolio in the US with the introduction of the new Blade Max 3. The phone come to replace the ZTE Imperial Max and will be offered by US Cellular.

The ZTE Blade Max 3 is a big phone coming with a 6-inch display and fullHD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels). Like the ZTE Blade V8 Pro, a model which the Chinese company introduced at CES 2017, the Blade Max 3 takes advantage of an octa-core Snapdragon 625 processor. The carrier also offers it with 16GB of built-in storage (microSD card slot also available for memory increase up to 128GB).

While US Cellular doesn’t make a note of the phone’s RAM capacity, the product probably carriers at least 2GB. And just the Blade V8 Pro, the Max 3 is also a dual camera phone. On the back, the handset takes advantage a 13-megapixel sensor with Phase Detection Autofocus that works in concert with another 13-megapixel mono sensor. When it comes to selfies, customers can take advantage of the secondary 5-megapixel snapper.

On the negative side of things, the ZTE Blade Max 3 ships out with Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box and at this moment we don’t really know whether the phone will ever get Android 7.0 Nougat treatment or not. We should also mention, the phone has a fingerprint scanner located on the back and a 4,000 mAh non-removable battery too and listen to this – a dedicated DAC (digital-to-analog convertor) for high quality audio.

Interested parties can pick up the dual-camera phone from US Cellular for $199.99 outright (with a $100 online discount applied) or for $12.5/month for the next 24 months.

Google is working on a drag-and-drop feat for Android, new patent suggests

Alexandra Arici
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Soon Android might get a popular desktop function which allows users to seamlessly share files, photos, music or videos. We’re talking about drag-and-drop, a feature most PC-users are familiar with.

A new Google patent which has been unearthed by What a Future suggests drag-and-drop might be headed for Android. The documents indicate that in the near future Android users will be able to easily share files and even select bits of texts between apps.

In one of the example provided in the patent, Google ask us to imagine a scenario where you are chatting with a friend who suggests having dinner at a new restaurant in town called “The Rock”. Let’s say you want to make a reservation – you’ll need to highlight the name and then drag the text to any of the apps from a list of “droppable” apps. In this case, you’ll have to drag-and-drop the info into a restaurant booking app.

A second scenario involves taking a picture of a landmark and then drag-and-dropping it into Google Maps so you can swiftly get directions to the monument. Or you could drag the photo to an online storage app and get a URL in return.

According to Google, the new feature relies on machine learning to learn the users’ drag-and-dropping habits in order to be able to predict where the user might want to paste info next. What’s more, the technology also allows makes the new tool capable of “discerning” whether “The Rock” indicates a local restaurant, the actor or the Alcatraz Island.

While this feature will certainly be nice to have, keep in mind that this is just a patent so Google might just be experimenting with the idea – nothing more. On the other hand, don’t be surprised if the new drag-and-drop feat makes an appearance in Android O.

Google announces nominees for Google Play Awards 2017

Alexandra Arici
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Google Play Awards will be making a comeback at the Google I/O 2017 which is happening between May 17 and May 19. The search giant wants to pay tribute to some of the best apps in the Android stores including Standout Indie, Best VR Experience and Best Apps for Kids, so it announced the nominees for this year’s event. You can check them out below:

Standout Indie

  1. Causality
  2. Kingdom: New Lands
  3. Mars: Mars
  4. Mushroom 11
  5. Reigns

Standout Startup

  1. CastBox
  2. Digit
  3. Discord
  4. HOOKED
  5. Simple Habit

Best Android Wear Experience

  1. Bring!
  2. Foursquare City Guide
  3. Lifesum
  4. Runtastic Running & Fitness
  5. Seven

Best TV Experience

  1. AbemaTV
  2. Haystack TV
  3. KKBox
  4. Netflix
  5. Red Bull TV

Best VR Experience

  1. Gunjack: End of Shift
  2. Mekorama VR
  3. The Arcslinger
  4. The Turning Forest
  5. Virtual Virtual Reality

Best AR Experience

  1. Crayola Color Blaster
  2. Dinosaurs Among Us
  3. Holo
  4. Wayfair View
  5. Woorld

Best App for Kids

  1. Animal Jam – Play Wild!
  2. Hot Wheels: Race Off
  3. Teeny Titans
  4. Think! Think!
  5. Toca Life: Vecation

Best Multiplayer Game

  1. Dawn of Titans
  2. FIFA Mobile
  3. Hearthstone
  4. Lords Mobile
  5. Modern Strike Online!

Best App

  1. Citymapper
  2. Fabulous
  3. Memrise
  4. Money Lover
  5. Quick

Best Game

  1. Choices
  2. Fire Emblem Heroes
  3. Lineage 2 Revolution
  4. Pokemon Go
  5. Transformers: Forged to Fight

Best Accessibility Experience

  1. A Blind Legend
  2. Eye-D
  3. IFTTT
  4. Open Sesame
  5. SwiftKey Symbols

Best Social Impact

  1. Charity Miles
  2. Peek Acuity
  3. Prodeaf
  4. Sea Hero Quest
  5. ShareTheMeal

Google says to tune in on May 18th at 6:30 PDT to see who wins. During the Google I/O 2017, Google is also expected to discuss Android O in-depth, but also announce improvements to popular products and services such as Google Assistant, Google Home, Android Wear, VR, Project Fi and much, much more.

AT&T GoPhone customers can now get their hands on a Samsung Galaxy Express 3

AndroidGuys
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The Samsung Galaxy Express range of phones are no new kids on the block, with us having writings on the device going as far back as 2012.

It’s a budget phone at a budget price, and a great way for people to get into smartphone ownership and of course, the Samsung “ecosystem”.

AT&T are currently offering this smartphone for free on a prepaid GoPhone plan up until the 22nd of June 2017 with the usual retail price coming in at around $49

Key features of the device include: 4.5″ Super AMOLED display, 2050 mAh removable battery, and 1.3 GHz quad core processor.

Get it while you can!

Ventev Dashmount Minipro Window phone mount review

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Although most countries around the world have placed laws against texting while driving, many citizens around the world use their mobile phones in the car for far much more than texting. Our phones have become our GPS units, as well as our media centers.

I love to travel and don’t mind driving to my destination, so I may spend many hours inside my car, both using Google Maps, and streaming music, news, or a podcast. When skipping songs on a playlist or looking at those turn-by-turn directions, it is convenient to see the screen at a glance. We want to look at our phone now for our phone; rather than grabbing one’s phone from the passenger seat, or some random cubby (We all have done that, haven’t we?), we need something more helpful.

Design

The Dashmount Minipro Window by Ventev is a design with which many of us are familiar–if we haven’t used something like it before, we have definitely seen them being used in other people’s vehicles on the road. It has 360-degree rotation with adjustable brackets, so it will fit nearly any smartphone in place and supports both portrait and landscape.

The heavy-duty suction cup has a lever that sucks in the extra air, giving it a firm hold that won’t fall down. This is, of course, assuming that you have cleaned the window properly–don’t worry, though, they included an alcohol wipe in the box to clean the windscreen/windshield.

It also includes a dash mount with 3M adhesive backing, so you can mount it directly to the dash. Although I trust 3M, and we all know that it is strong, just note that you are essentially permanently choosing a location for your mount, and cannot move it from car-to-car like you can with the window mount.

Ease of Use

Once you take this out of the box, it is fairly self-explanatory. My phone, even in a case easily slides in and out of the adjustable holder. Incredibly simple to operate.

The suction cup allows for your phone to be mounted to either the window or the dash. Both the window/dash cup AND the separate 3M holder are included, giving yet another option to how to mount your device, and finally, the spring-loaded arms allow the mount to fit even large phones.

Value

The Dashmount Minipro Window will run you about $25.00, which is cheaper than many phone cases. Since this comes with two different options for mounting for the same price, I say it’s well worth the cost, plus, Ventev offers a limited LIFETIME warranty, as long as you keep your receipt.

Wrap-Up

Some people aren’t mount users–they prefer to just leave the phone in the pocket, auto-connect to Bluetooth, and use the steering wheel for controls. I used to be one of those people until I had to use my phone as a GPS; just hearing directions does not work for me. I was constantly looking at my phone, so then I became a mount-person.

The Ventev unit is affordable, practical, and more than a little bit convenient. To me, there’s not much more you can say about something without outright trying to sell it to someone.

Availability

You can purchase the Dashmount Minipro Window at Ventev’s website where it’s offered for $24.99.

Research essay on Android vs iOS

Guest Blogger
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Coke vs. Pepsi. McDonalds vs. Burger King. Colgate vs. Crest. Cats vs. Dogs. Great rivalries bring out the best in competitors, but they also create powerful partisans who swear by their choice. In the realm of smartphones, two names stand out: Android and iOS. When you are ready to upgrade your phone, how will you choose between these two rivals? We have some important comparisons to share that might help to make the choice between Android and iOS a little easier.

Apple launched iOS in 2007, and Android, created by Google, followed to market a year later. Over the past decade these two rivals have made significant improvements, and in many ways the two systems are quite similar. For light users who rely on their phones primarily for making calls, texting, and checking email, the two systems are highly comparable and these users will likely notice very little difference. In fact, the two systems have been evolving to be more like one another as they work hard to offer similar features to entice users to stick with or join their operating systems.

On the other hand, there are still some important differences that users should consider.

iOS Locks You into Apple

At the most basic level, iOS is the Apple system, and you have to have an iPhone to use it. Because iOS is tied to the Apple ecosystem, the operating system is designed to steer you to other Apple products and services. It’s certainly possible to use non-Apple apps and services with your iPhone, but these can be more difficult to find and manage that the Apple products that are designed to work seamlessly with iOS.

On the other hand, the Android system is available across many makes and models of phone and also exists in customized versions. Android can allow for greater flexibility and greater choice, but it also means that its major apps are not part of the operating system itself and have to be updated outside of the regular operating system upgrades. In other words, iOS has basic applications like mail, maps, and the web browser integrated, while Android treats them as separate, like any other app.

Apple makes it easy to use Google apps on an iPhone, but Apple does not share its native apps with Android users. As a result, choosing Apple gives you access to a wider range of potential apps than an Android device, at least in terms of cross-platform compatibility.

Android Phones Might Costs Less, or Not

Cost is certainly a factor when it comes to any smartphone choice. Currently, iOS is exclusive to the iPhone and commands a premium price for this premium product. By contrast, Android is available on phone across the spectrum of price points, from low-end starter models straight up to the most expensive rivals to the iPhone.

Virtual Assistants

Both Android and iOS offer virtual assistants, Google Now and Siri respectively. As with the apps, you can use both on your iPhone, but Android only gives you access to Google Now. Apple’s assistant also seems to be a little more respectful of your privacy, while Google Now sweeps up every bit of available data and sends it back to Google to create the most thorough profile possible of you.

Aesthetics

Many users now say that Android has a more aesthetically pleasing interface because of its bold graphics and more robust font choice. On the other hand, Apple’s minimalist aesthetic is clearly the starting point for every other interface. Either way, the choice of which looks better is subjective, and users will likely have their own preferences.

Overall, Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android are quite similar in most respects, and as time has gone on, the two have only grown more similar. Where once iOS had a clear advantage over Android, today the differences are much more about access to apps than about deep differences in how they work. As a result, when you go to make a choice between the two systems, think about what you want to do with your phone and choose then that works for your specific needs. App selection, budget, and personal preferences have become the defining factors when it comes to making a choice between two very similar products.

Sponsored by research essay writing company CheapWritingHelp.com which is committed to help students with their computer science and technology academic papers.

Samsung and Qualcomm already looking to the next flagship device – the Galaxy S9

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I know what you all must be thinking: The Samsung Galaxy S8 has just began its global launch and is successfully finding it’s way into people’s lives and homes and by all accounts it’s looking to be one of Samsung’s more successful product launches to date.

I myself am found to be regularly obsessing over the S8’s sleek screen curvature and impressive screen circumference, looking on enviously as more and more of my friends and colleagues are uploading un-boxing photos onto an abundance of social media platforms. Even as I type this my beloved S7 Edge sits by my side and I cannot help but catch a glimpse from the corner of my eye thinking of it as a jilted ex-partner and that it’s time we both admitted it is no longer working between us and time we both went our separate ways.

So it has come as quite a surprise that so soon into product launch – so globally dominant as the Galaxy S8, we are already discussing the possible workings of the Galaxy S9 with information beginning to seep out from behind closed doors about the inner workings of their next flagship device. Crazy right?!

Samsung’s current Galaxy S8 is the first smartphone to feature Qualcomm’s latest 835 processor and in a recent statement by Aju Business Daily, documented via The Investor, a new Snapdragon 845 processor is currently under development and it will be manufactured by either TSMC or Samsung themselves.

So what does this actually mean?

Well we can assume the new processor might be based on Samsung’s recently announced second-gen 10nm technology, which is expected to consume 15% less power than the current 10nm process used by the Snapdragon 835.

So all in all we could be looking at one super fast phone that lasts longer, works even smarter and with an estimated 27% faster processing speed and up to 30% more efficiency than the previous chips but with nothing yet actually officially being confirmed, we can only be left wondering Samsung Galaxy S9 aside, what else Samsung have in store for us in 2018.

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