#storage space and nice camera and an easily replaceable battery

[toytulini]

insane how ppl casually bring up their families or significant others or whatever tracking their location via life360 or whatever else like its just normal and then if I'm weirded out by how creepy that is on multiple levels im the insane luddite or whatever

[bestdroneswithcamera-blog]

10 Best Drones With Camera 2019

Best Drones With Camera:  Are you looking for the best drone with camera within a reasonable budget?

1. Holy Stone HS160 for Kids

We did the research and finally, we found that the Holy Stone HS 160 is the best drone for kids. If you are looking for a drone for your kids, then you should buy this holy stone HS 160 model. It is fordable and able to improve the transparency of the footages. The drone is allowed to calculate the air density for achieving suspension. To keep the lens safe HD camera drone is installed in the body. Simply download and install the customized app on your smartphone. You can connect the drone to your phone via Wi-Fi and see the real-time image on the phone.

Pros:

This drone is fordable and flexible ABS plastic Styrofoam. The machine is only quadrangle portable and palm shapes. This can prevent drones from damage or injuries. You can manage your drone with an app after connecting it to your phone with the Wi-Fi. It has a 720p camera with live video for a preview. Auto takeoff and automatic land fly and this is very easy. The included remote works well-labeled and the buttons are clearly labeled. This product includes the carrying case and extra battery. Videos and photos are better records than expected quality of the footage. Folds and shapes in the case of involving drone are sage. There are a few extra propellers and other spare parts included as free. Cons: USB indicator may not be turned off when charging is full. It creates loud noise that makes feel you boring. No AC adapter included in the drone. You will need two AC adapters to charge both batteries at the same time. This drone requires an iOS or Android device to be connected via WiFi. It is needed to video recording and taking photos. The Bottom- line of product: The drone is equipped with 720P HD camera. It has a WiFi function to send the FPV system to share airy photos and videos. Those will be stored on your phone and you can share happy moments with your friends and family. Lenses can be concentrated in the lower part. It is easy for you to take great spontaneity and moments. You can manage your drone with an app after connecting your drones through Wi-Fi to your phone. This function will be providing your real-time image transmission. The drone has one key take off and landing option. It would be activated more easily in applications such as in gravity sensor mode and 3D VR mode. Your drone and accessories will be stored properly in the Box. This Box will protect your drone from being harmed during traveling. It is easy to carry and has a portable case to make you free to fly in the sky. 2. Holy Stone F181C RC for beginners If you're a beginner in drone flying then the Holy Stone F181C RC will be good for you. It is the best drone to learn basic maneuvering and to reach an advanced level. Flips and rolls have got a nice performance with a simple push of the drone button. Hold the stick on the right side to perform a cool roll on each side. In the headless mode, the drone will not face any direction. The forward sticks to move forward, and the back stick for backward. All set to its initial adoption closed position. Pros: The drone is equipped with a return to home key and headless security systems to help drone back. The strong wind pressure height allows the drone function to its current height. It is done by the drone after releasing its throttle. It will be easy for you to take a quality picture and quality videos. It has a continuous roll with two batteries for longer flight time. It has a key 360 ° 4-way flip for perfect action and increasing performance. Cons: Most parts are made from the low quality of plastic. You will hear a lot of background noise when flying the drone. There are some complaints about the video in a review. It has taken the camera back and immediately got a replacement which is fine. There is some delay when flipping while quitting next to him. However, some entry-level quadrants can even do this. And this step allows the capture of pneumatic images from all directions. There is no GPS function, but the title protection feature is created for this. The Bottom-line of products: This drone is equipped with a new return to home and title protection system. And it helps in prevention and loss of drones. Height Hold function allows the drone to throttle its current height. By using this drone you will have quality images or videos. There has one Key to 360 ° 4-Way Flip. There is continuous Roll for perfect action and wonderful performance. It comes in two batteries and flight time is extended. Its rage is about 50-100 meters. Battery flight time is approximately 7-9 minutes. Time charge is about 80 minutes. No FPV (see the first person) option. Lights can help you to detect drones in the night, and they can be turned on/off. The drone has a 720p HD camera with up to 4 GB micro SD card including Sky Sense. 3. DJI Inspire 2 for photography DJI Inspire 2 is the best drone for photography that we have found in the market. It has the best image quality to meet the needs of professional photographers. DJI Inspire 2 Quad-copter is a powerful cinematic and photographic tools included. The drone is combining the Inspire 2 with the available X4S and X5S gimbals cameras. You can record in high bit rates using H.264 and H.265 formats. And in the case of the X5R, various flavors of Apple ProRes and Cinematic raw use the required licenses. The licenses are available from DJI. Pros: It is designed with magnesium to allow strong body that results from durable designs. There are two camera options. Its camera supports 5.2 k videos with 16 bit raw images. It offers PCle SSD storage with a 67 mph speed range. It works with effective obstacle avoidance and detection system. It has retractable landing gear and supports 360-degree camera rotation. It has come with dual operator control using FPV pilot camera. You will be able to access intelligent flight modes with this device. Cons: As it develops videos with 5.2 K resolution level but users need a strong CPU for their post-processing. This device is not designed to serve the purpose of hobbyist users. Micro Four Thirds camera unit is highly expensive. The Bottom-line of the product: Its advanced obstacle avoidance has also made its way to the Inspire 2. It is built into DJI's flight autonomy system. The copter can be detected and avoided automatically with flight autonomy system. This copter can even remember flight paths in case of an emergency RTH without GPS enabled. By using 2-axis stabilized FPV camera, the pilot can navigate the drone to the gimbals in field view. Everything you need to set up to fly that already included in the DJI Inspire 2. There are two batteries with a charger and an all-new transmitter controller. You will have also extra propellers, a calibration plate, and a carrying case to store. Forward and backward systems enable the Inspire 2 to detect obstacles up to 30 meters ahead. It's allowing for a protected flight at up to 34 mph at a controllable attitude angle of 25°. Upward-facing infrared sensors scan obstacles 16' above. It is done by adding protection when flying in enclosed spaces. Obstacle-sensing systems are active during normal flight. RTH and all intelligent flight modes are activated properly. 4. 3DR Solo Quadcopter for filming 3DR is the best filming drone on the market that we have ever found. It has a solo video game style controller. You can choose the second of it, even if you cannot drop it. Push-button keep both cameras and copper at your fingertips. Break off your flight midair with a single touch off and land immediately. Click to start or stop recording, or snap a photo, adjust the camera angle when you're still flying. If you miss it in the picture, it can be connected to the high-quality HDMI port from the controller directly. So you can actually connect solo to any screen. The full-featured apps for iOS and Android keep craft control at your fingertips. Pros: Gimbals come with stability and it works with GoPro cameras. It is proposed to repeat with smart shots. The drone provides automatic and smooth change facilities for gimbals. The feature has been brought back home. It can be connected to Android and iOS devices using dedicated apps. Cons: It gives very little battery life and takes too much time to charge. People find their GPS system a little spotty. Drifts hovers are observed during the time. The Bottom-line of products: This copter is made from the ground as a companion for the Zippo hero. It’s a solo quad-copter with 3D robotics follows me option. It has an aerial imaging-specific flight mode in Kid mode. Thanks to a quad-rotor configuration and for the flight stability. A twin computer flight control system capable of flying. Flight controller relies on GPS for navigational coordinates. It is done by using data from accelerators and other sensors help to keep the copter safe. Solo Gimbal is a 3-axis stabilizer compatible with GoPro Hero3 + or HERO4 action camera. It is a ready-to-fly (RTH) bundle. It combines a pre-bound transmitter. It’s a style after a video game controller for more intuitive activity. There has the dual joystick for flying. It integrates dedicated dials to handle solo giggles. There is a mobile application for iOS and Android devices. The app provides full control over the copter, gimbals and even GoPro. You can mount your smartphone directly on the transmitter. 5. SNAPTAIN S5C WiFi FPV Drone under $100 The best drone under $ 100 "SNAPTAIN S5C". SNAPTAIN S5C drone is user-friendly. Simply press a button, it will close, land or return to your destination. It is having a smart voices control, headless mode, and attractive 360 ° flips come for newbies player. SNAPTAIN S5C supplies up to 80 meters of video transmission. You can immediately edit and upload your videos to social media by iPhone. It has a 720P video transmission signal upload at 80 m scale and allowing you to fly further away. You edit HD footage and upload directly from your device to social media. Video clips are automatically stored on a micro SD card. Pros: Horizontal sensor technology can navigate the drone by flipping in any position. There are 3-speed modes, both of which are suitable for new and expert. More speed can reach up to 3.5m / s. Battery supports 7 to 10 minutes long flight time. The barriers to four clashes make drones difficult enough to clash. It is especially in four corners where propellers are considered to be fragile. SunPeten the app has voice control, gravity control, 3D-VR and trajectory flights, etc. Cons: The product has limited control distance. You will get an average camera quality to capture photos and videos. The copter includes a GPS mode only. It's the beginner’s drone as well. The Bottom-line of products: The drone can be completely controlled by the app on your smartphone by snapaten. Voice control lets you talk about your drone and stay perfect for photo/video shooting. There is a protective propeller guard to ensure a safe flight. It suddenly has a high-quality ABS material to shock or drop your anxiety. This is the best choice with enough fun for beginners. The height-hole function ensures a permanent windfall in the air at a certain height. Possible thanks to this function of great aerial photos and videos. The trajectory flight function will draw flight courses on your smartphone's touch screen. A built-in g-sensor is a vertical and horizontal position for your smartphone. It is designed for downloadable snapshots in the iOS and Android device. 6. Holy Stone HS100 under $200 Holy Stone HS100 is the best drone under $ 200 and the basic things are easy to learn. This drone supports GPS system while flying. The GPS helps to provide accurate location information for your drone. Built-in return-to-home (RTH) functions for safe flight. The drone will return to home when the battery is a low signal. So, if the flight signal beyond the limit becomes weak, do not worry about losing the drone. This 1080P 120 ° FOV FPV Wi-Fi camera is optimized. It has a 90 ° regular corner, high-quality video, and aerial photos. You can enjoy real-time viewing right from the remote control. You will have an ideal selfie while flying the drone. You can catch every moment of your holiday from the point of view of a bird's eye. Pros: One-off takeoff/landing just starts a drone by pressing a button. You will have an emergency stop button. This feature is perfect for flying and reducing learning curves. You can control the drone by using your phone app. Click the VR icon to turn on the mobile phone split-screen mode. Real-time transmission 3D visualization experiences wear VR glasses. Cons: You cannot refuse to take remote control charging. You have to use the camera for the first time to capture photos and videos. Do not forget the distance between the controllers and the drone. It is needed to avoid lose connection while the drone flying. The battery performance may go down when overusing the video recording. The Bottom-line of products: The drone will automatically follow and take you wherever you want to go. Always keep you in frames, easy to get complex shots, hand-free flying, and selfies. Drone's flying time is up to 15 minutes and has a long control distance. You will get a 2500mAh high-performance battery. A distance of 500m is ready to give you a more detailed flight experience. There has a headless mode, solid hold and one key option to take easy operation. You do not have to worry about adaptation and with the simple pressure of a button. Your drone will be at the height of the house, which is suitable for beginners. Blades are stored under the white foam box. GPS mode enables precise location and prevents drone losses. If the battery is low or if it loses the signal the drone will perform an auto-return. With this new function, you can enjoy more fun and secure flight. The built-in height function allows the drone to be raised.   7. Holy Stone HS700 under $300 We did the research and got the best drone that goes under $ 300. This is having 110-degree Fahrenheit (View of View) lens upgraded camera. It will give you a panoramic view to record your unforgettable moment. 5G 1300FT transmission ensures high-end real-time video. The drone is a GoPro hero 2/3/4 compatible. This drone can be stabilized and comes back to home automatically when its battery is low. Shot with ease when the drone can follow you or you can fly to a circle along the set path. Pros: You can consider the drone size that’s awesome comparatively others. This HS700 brush-less motor flies faster and quiet as quick as you want. It is very stable in air conditions compared to the DGI spark drone. Compared to DGI Spark, you do not have to buy any extra accessories. The 20-minute flight time allows the drone to fly very fast. It can fly further and create better shots. It can capture more footage as well as improve pilot skills. Removable cameras will let you install another action camera. It needs to improve your video quality up to 4K resolution on your drone. GoPro 2/3/4 supported as well as some other manufacturers. Cons: The whole battery charge takes 5-7 hours. It is more than 1 hour and 28 minutes of DGI spark. The range is somewhat limited to DGI Spark. You can achieve a 1.2-mile limit when the HS700 cannot fly more than half a mile. The drone is not light at all. Transporting it during travel can be a damage problem. Also, it requires a planned case for the drone, which requires it to be fold-able and large enough space. The Holy Stone HS700 flight features have been identified as the number of DJI sparks. So that it can be an idea for viewers who can gain as much experience as possible of piloting drones. The Bottom-line of products: High power 2800mAh intelligent battery produces up to 20 mins flight time. It has low power alert. You can immerse yourself in a significant flight. It's so cool but very powerful when it's running. Breaks rarely occur and need very little replacement of the motor. This replacement makes your flight more enjoyable. It has a quick launch by pressing one button on the remote control. Quick release propellers can be set up with no screw. It has a stable flight while its height is locked. It has easy direction control with title mode. You can control the camera and focus on more complex shots. The HS700 can always go back to take-off points according to your instructions. Application control drone is available. Just draw a route on the app screen and the HS700 will move to that direction. 8. DJI Spark under $500 DJI Spark is so popular among people who are really enthusiastic about flying drone in the sky. This drone goes under $ 500 in our category. Its intelligent flight mode is smart, reliable. It is having intuitive quick shot videos with a tap. This drone is able to detect the pattern surfaces with enough light and spread reflection (20%). Its high-performance camera shock-free shots of amazing images and stabilizing static video mechanical gimbals. Flight performance is strong. You will have an immersive experience with powerful prompt motion and accuracy control. Flight security is at your fingertips. Propeller guard is recommended while using 2-axis stable Gimbal camera. Pros: It is small in size since it is portable everywhere. Gesture control system support is really awesome. Smartphone-controlled flights are easy to handle. Drone photos and video capture are automatic shots. The subject tracking option makes drone popular. Forward bumps system is installed. There is a GPS stable for lost drone tracking while flying it a while. The RTH security features will help you to save the drone while flying if it goes low battery signal. Its good positioning system will help you to capture better footage. It has multiple control options for advanced level players. Cons: Flight time is about only 12 minutes battery net. It has a limited range and speed goes up and down when controlling with the phone. It has limited video. There has no support for 24fps or high frame rate capture. Applications and video editing features may be easy to use. Dedicated Remote Control is a wedding add-on. Short flight time and low air resistance. The Bottom- line of products: By recognizing your face with Face Awareness, Spark turns away from your hands. It takes power off and takes hovers in a few seconds. Propeller guard is recommended while using this function. Take a surprising gaseous photo using a hand gesture, without a remote controller. Remote controller (optional accessory) is required. Intelligent Flight mode and intuitive controls help you to create cinematic airy videos. The DJI GoPro-4 app coordinates an array of automated edit templates and filters. Quickly edit videos and share them directly into social media. In Tap-fly mode, just imagine your shot and Spark captures it for you. Using your vision technology, tap your phone screen and the spark. The drone will fly in the direction of your tap. With ActivVact, Spark recognizes different size and objects. This makes tracking a lot easier and more reliable. Accepting deep learning gestures allows you to take selfies with simple hand motion. Control the speed of the spark with the palm control mode. 9. DJI Mavic Air under $1000 It is the best drone under $ 1000 in our drone section. Ultrasonic Mavic Air features high-end flight performance and functionality for unlimited flying. Portable Mavic Air is a 3-axis mechanical gimbal with an angular vibration range. It is equipped for a gradual shooting. The Mavic Air can draw 4K video at 30 FPS and can draw record footage in 100 feet/second.  Mavic Air's onboard camera integrates a 35bit / 2.3 "12MP CMOS sensor. And it has an F / 2.8 lenses with a 35 / mm equal focal length for high-quality photos and video shoots. You will get a full bundle here in the box. Pros: Everything seems to be well on the hardware as well. The Zimbal design is much better than the original Mavic Pro. The cameras are well-protected by low open and frames. There are no fragile rubber band attachments here. It is easy to deal with Gimbal lock process. The battery locking process is protected.  Video bit-rate has now reached 100Mb in the 4K recording. In sports mode, the indicated GPS speeds reach 40 megawatts which are notified by the DJI. This drone is fast and with strong headwind conditions, it will not even struggle to fly home. Cons: Its 60 Mbps bit-rate is the main problem of Mavic Pro and DJI solution to Mavik Air problem. The range is not so great, which corresponds to the DGI spark. Without any radio interference in the country, the faster range test is more than one mile. Switching between 5.8 GHz and 2.4 GHz band will not help much. The bottom-line of products: This drone received 32.0 mp sphere panorama. Additionally, the drone is capable of moving horizontal, vertical and 180 ° panoramas. Mavic-Air crystal clear 32.0 MP spheres combine 25 photos in just eight seconds to create a panorama. Lightweight and compact fordable design will help you to take anywhere with you. It supports 4K video at 30 fps - 12.0 mp cameras are ready to shoot adobe dg ray support. It has a high-speed motion for smooth video. And sharp images and even three-axis capable of stabilizing the camera. You can control your drone up to 6562. Its intelligence flight lithium battery supplies 21-minute flight time per charge. A fold-able, low-profile, ergonomic design feature is able to hold smartphone for most convenience. Store the stick inside the remote controllers, more comfortable pack at isolated controls. You can fly through the phone. It has five vision sensors, GPS and GLONASS. It’s a pair of ultrasonic range explorers. A group of 24 powerful special computers ensures that your drones are flying safely. After turning on the drone with a hand gesture and take control of your favorite photos and videos. 10. FlyByCopters X8 640 in more money We have got a more expensive drone on the market, which is FlyByCopters X8. This surveys/mapping heat imaging quadcopter is fully configured outside the box. And it is enabled autopilot flights with wet points and RTLs. There are the TX controls six flight modes and 2 channels to control the jumbo's yaw and pitch. Its sony A6000 camera lets you take professional airline images. The included heat sensor automatically takes it to the image sabotages. The heat sensor also has a radiometric option. So you can see the live temperature readings from the FPV screen. With the included ground station, you can create an autopilot mission to survey. The ground station also features pneumatic images footage. This drone provides high precision centimeter accuracy in the GPS unit of multi-gnash rt. Pros: The low efficiency is not measured but it maintains balance much less structure and cables. Plus, the open view in front of the front is a big plus which can be made better if the arms push forward. Pix-watch 32-bit Autopilot Flight Controller. It has a flier Pro 336 thermal sensor. It has 3-axis 32 bite rate brush-less gimbals. The 4K UHD high-resolution camera will help you take high-quality pictures and videos. Cons: This drone is more expensive and for professionals. People buy this drone to get the extra benefit for professional reasons. Its main goal is to separate the drone from the other drone in the market. Its functions or options are using for more professional cases. Its weight is 4.7 kg that so heavier and it is larger in size. And its functions are more complex. This drone and learning all the features will be a problem. The Bottom-line of products: Multi-Nos RT is accurate to 2 centimeters of GPS. Handheld transmitters give you remote access to both camera shutters through a switch. Included telemetry radio and OSD 7 will send live flight data directly to the FPV screen. It will run over 6000 or more on the live video feed from Sony's 6000 or Flu Pro 640. Switch between Sony 6000 and video sensor from thermal sensors via the transmitter. This is a very powerful and stable X8 quadrilateral. Some X8 quad-copters have the ability to handle high winds, higher altitude, more power, and more stable and longer flight times. When you stop the four motor works, you can properly capture the drone until at least one motor works in each arm. Both beginners and advanced pilots love to fly. The conclusion of the article: In conclusion, I'll say we've discovered this article is the best drone collection in the worldwide. We spent the time studying and finally found 10 best products in the shortcut to choose one of your favorites from above. Based on the drone activates and in our limited time, we have shared the best drones on the basis of the price range that is very important for the people. It is clear that drone technology is an important part of the future and it is becoming a big commercial industry. Legislation in drones is now the most important reason. Because it determines the limitations needed to protect rights as future use of drones. In order to use effective drones and excessive drone lines, the restrictions must be placed. Drone is possible to be an important part of society, but they come with many difficulties. Drones have become necessary for the security of American people and other developed countries. With the appropriate constraints, the drone has become a policy of the United Nations based on the citizenship of foreign nationals. Determining where the drones are fit is not an easy task, but their control grows rapidly while controlling and the industry grows and develops.

[your-dietician]

Best Amazon Echo smart home devices and Kindle e-readers and more are on sale

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Best Amazon Echo smart home devices and Kindle e-readers and more are on sale

We may receive commission from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change.

Nearly every Amazon smart home device and e-reader is on sale. (Photo: Amazon)

Hooray! Prime Day is going strong! Day 2 is here! Amazon has slashed prices on nearly all of its devices for the mega-shopping event, which ends at midnight PST. So if you’ve been reluctant to “add to cart,” there’s still time to save…but not too much.

What’s on sale? Just about all Amazon smart-home devices, Fire TV and tablets. A highlight: The very popular Echo Show 5 is on sale for its all-time lowest price ever ($45!). This display brings together all your smart-home devices, while also serving as a visual companion to Alexa. And right now it’s nearly 45 percent off!

What else is discounted? Audible, for your Amazon devices: Get a whopping 53 percent off the first four months of Audible Premium Plus, so you can up game with great audio books and more; summer “reading” has never been more fun.

Important: These deals, including the Echo Show 5, are exclusive to Amazon Prime members. Not yet a member? You can sign up for a free 30-day trial here and take advantage of all the deals below, plus free shipping and all sorts of other Prime benefits. 

Scroll to get your hands on the best Prime Day, Day 2 deals on Amazon devices.

New Echo Buds are here — and they’re 33 percent off for Prime Day! (Photo: Amazon)

The latest Echo Buds feature active noise-canceling (not available with the first generation). Now you can enjoy your favorite music and podcasts free from annoying background noise. Score a pair for $80 with the standard charging case, or $100 with the wireless charging case, for Prime Day.

These second-generation Echo Buds are built for long-lasting comfort with a new, sleeker design that fits securely in your ears (unlike Apple AirPods). They deliver high-quality audio that’s well-balanced and clear with deep bass. These babies are durable and tough, with up to 15 hours of battery life per charge (and an extra two hours with a 15-minute quick charge). And your trusty Alexa voice assistant is built-in.

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“A quality pair of buds. Out of the box, setup was easy,” wrote a delighted five-star reviewer. “I already had the Alexa app on my phone, so all it took was having the app open while I opened the case on the new ear buds…. The audio playback is excellent. Experimented with some heavy metal and classical, and the sounds were great. Even the classics like Sinatra sounded great, with the vocals loud and clear.”

The new Echo Buds come in Black and Glacier White.

Read thousands of e-books with the Kindle Paperwhite — save nearly 40 percent! (Photo: Amazon)

Discounted from $130 to just $80, the Kindle Paperwhite is a great all-around e-reader. Thanks to its six-inch display with a built-in light and 300ppi (pixels per inch) for clarity, it reads just like paper — hence the name. Plus, it’s got lots of on-board storage (8GB), so it can hold thousands of e-books and digital magazines from Amazon’s digital bookstore.

“Best Kindle yet,” said one of many five-star reviewers. “This Kindle is lighter and thinner than the last generation, noticeably so. The flat edge-to-edge screen is an improvement in feel and makes it much easier to clean. It still has an excellent non-glare screen that I love for reading outdoors.”

One of the Kindle Paperwhite’s best features is its looooong battery life — it can go for up to six weeks per charge. That’s weeks, not hours!

Never switch out batteries again with this hardwired gadget. (Photo: Amazon)

Although it resembles a standard doorbell, the Ring Video Doorbell Wired is super-powered. This smart doorbell provides a 24/7 video stream and a nice wide field of view (up to 155 degrees horizontal and 90 degrees vertical), meaning you can see a broad swath of your property and any activity that might be occurring. And it syncs to your smartphone, tablet, laptop or streaming device (it’s easy — there’s a Ring app), so you can keep an eye on your home whether you’re inside, at work or away on that big vacation you’ve got coming up this summer. And this is the exact right moment to snap one up. For Prime members only, the Ring Video Doorbell Wired is down from $60 to just $45.

“I absolutely love this doorbell. I’m thrilled the doorbell doesn’t need batteries. I hated that,” said a five-star reviewer. “The setup is so easy and the doorbell notifications come through my phone and my Alexa Echo Dot…Plus, the quality of the sound from outside is really good too…. I would absolutely purchase this particular Ring doorbell again.”

The Ring Video Doorbell Wired is hardwired into your home’s electric system, so there’s no need to worry about replacing batteries every few months. As long as there’s electricity flowing through your home, this guy is on the job.

Save 50 percent: Echo Dot

Want to turn your home into a smart home? Start here. (Photo: Amazon)

With an all-new sphere design, the fourth generation Echo Dot — marked down from $50 to just $25 (half off!) for Prime members only — is a small but powerful smart speaker with a glow-light base that can not only channel Alexa but can also stream tunes from Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music, Sirius XM and more. It offers clearer, more robust audio quality than earlier iterations. Pair it with another Echo Dot to create amazing stereo sound — a particularly smart deal now that it’s half off!

Shoppers love the compact dimensions — it’s 3.5-inches high — which make it great for smaller rooms. “This is exactly what I was looking for,” said a happy Amazon shopper. “The sound is loud and clear. Now I am able to hear all online stations with no interference. The design is space-saving, with rubber underneath to prevent sliding.”

The Echo Dot 4 comes in Charcoal, Glacier White and Twilight Blue.

Stream live TV and free TV instantly. (Photo: Amazon)

Watch more TV for less with the Fire TV Stick Lite — on sale from $30 to just $18 for Amazon Prime members. It’s easy to set up: It plugs into just about any HD or 4K TV’s HDMI ports, syncs to Wi-Fi and then provides access to hundreds of streaming apps and channels, including Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney+, YouTube, Prime Video, Starz, Showtime and much, much more. For someone looking to cut the cord with their cable provider, this is perfect.

“…I’m very pleased with the Fire TV Stick Lite,” shared a satisfied Amazon shopper. “Alexa is installed, and using voice commands to change the TV is so wonderful! I can also turn the lights off from my remote control when it’s time to movie-watch. I love it! Let’s see the cable companies let me do that! I figure I’ll be saving about $230 per month now, and all for an investment that was less than paying one month of a cable bill.”

For anyone wondering: The Fire TV Stick Lite is the same as the standard Fire TV Stick but with a different remote. This remote has Alexa voice assistant built-in, but it doesn’t have a TV on/off switch or volume controls, which is why it’s deemed ‘Lite’.

The Echo Show 5 is a smart-home display that covers a lot of ground — but takes up very little space. (Photo: Amazon)

On sale for $45 for Prime members only (was $80), the Show 5 is Echo’s smaller, sleeker model. Armed with a 5-inch display, the Echo Show 5 is the perfect compact and lightweight companion to your nightstand. This smart-home display can double as a digital alarm clock with Alexa built-in. In fact, Amazon has a wide range of personalized clock faces to choose from, so you can bring a little bit of your own personality to this device.

“This is the best alarm clock I’ve ever had,” wrote a delighted five-star reviewer. “The clock face is customizable and very easy to read from anywhere in the room. The screen has no distortion or discoloration from any angle, so it is easy to see from everywhere…Perfect for checking the time in the middle of the night.”

The Echo Auto makes your car as smart as your home, and is down to just $15, from $50. (Photo: Amazon)

If you’ve ever called out to Alexa in your car, only to find she wasn’t there, this is for you. The Echo Auto — on sale for a mere $15 from $50 for Prime members only — is a clever gizmo that instantly makes any old car smart. It connects to your car’s stereo via auxiliary input and pairs to your phone with Bluetooth.

The Echo Auto is designed with eight mighty microphones, so it can clearly pick up voice commands (no worries about a loud engine, or noisy traffic). It’s great for making hands-free phone calls and searching for your favorite tunes on Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora and more.

“I’m actually impressed with this little device….” shared a five-star Amazon reviewer. “It always picks up my voice no matter the sound level.”

The Blink Mini HD security cam keeps an eye on your home. (Photo: Amazon)

Some security cameras will set you back hundreds. For Prime Day, you can get this Blink Mini for just $20 — that’s $15 off — if you’re a Prime member. 

This smart-home security camera detects motion — it can snap into record mode whenever it senses activity around your home. It comes with free cloud storage until the end of 2021, and It features Full HD live streaming and two-way audio, so you can talk to house guests via the Blink app.

“This is a great little camera monitor,” raved an excited five-star shopper. “It’s easy to set up and easily managed with your smartphone. Can be set up to arm and record at any time. I bought this to use in my master bedroom by my desk where I keep sensitive information.”

Save a third for Prime Day on this Insignia 43-inch Smart 4k Ultra HD TV. (Photo: Amazon)

On sale from $320 to just $220 for Prime members only, the Insignia 43-inch Smart 4K Ultra HD TV — Fire TV Edition is a total steal. This is its all-time lowest price ever, so it’s the perfect moment to grab it for a bedroom or guest room. With a beautiful, crisp image, this TV lets you stream movies and shows from Netflix, SlingTV, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Prime Video and more. Armed with an Ultra HD resolution of 2160p, this model is so popular it has earned a five-star rating from nearly 1,000 reviewers.  

“I am so happy with my new Fire TV. The instructions weren’t complicated. I was able to switch flawlessly between my cable and the Fire TV apps,” shared a savvy Amazon shopper. “The clarity of the picture is wonderful…This is so perfect for me.”

Echo

Halo fitness

Luna gaming

Fire TV

Fire TV Cube, $80 (was $120), amazon.com

Fire TV Stick 4K, $25 (was $50), amazon.com

Insignia 24-inch Smart HD TV — Fire TV Edition, $100 (was $170), amazon.com

Toshiba 32-inch Smart HD TV — Fire TV Edition, $130 (was $200), amazon.com

Toshiba 43-inch Smart 4K Ultra HD — Fire TV Edition, $350 (was $240), amazon.com

Fire tablet

Kindle

eero

Blink

Ring

Ring Spotlight Cam, $150 (was $200), amazon.com

Ring Stick Up Cam, $75 (was $100), amazon.com

Ring Alarm 5-piece kit (second generation) , $120 (was $200), amazon.com

Ring Alarm 8-piece kit (second generation), $150 (was $250), amazon.com

Ring Floodlight Cam, $140 (was $180), amazon.com

You know… for kids

The Mandalorian: The Child, Stand for Amazon Echo Dot (third generation), $22 (was $25), amazon.com

Echo Dot Kids Edition (fourth generation), $35 (was $60), amazon.com

Fire 7 Kids Tablet, $60 (was $100), amazon.com

Fire HD 8 Kids Tablet, $70 (was $140), amazon.com

Fire HD 10 Kids Tablet, $120 (was $200), amazon.com

Fire 7 Kids Pro, $60 (was $100), amazon.com

Fire HD 8 Kids Pro, $70 (was $140), amazon.com

Fire HD 10 Kids Pro, $120 (was $200), amazon.com

The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.

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BOING BOING GIFT GUIDE 2017

Here's this year's complete Boing Boing Gift Guide: dozens of great ideas for stocking stuffers, brain-hammers, mind-expanders, terrible toys, badass books and more. Where available, we use Amazon Affiliate links to help keep the world's greatest neurozine online.

Gadgets + Gear

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Books + Music

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Home + Kitchen

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Toys + Games

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Naughty + Nice

Gadgets

CORY

Edu-Toys Night 'n Day Mechanical GlobeElenco's Night 'n Day Mechanical Globe uses a system of translucent, exposed gears to rotate an internally illuminated globe that displays the seasonally adjusted, real-time night/day terminator as it spins.[Read More]

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XENI

iPhone 8 PlusNow on its eighth numbered generation, the iPhone remains my entire creative studio and almost everything I need to do my work: it replaces my fancy camera, my audio gear and everything else I had to lug around. This thing really is everything. I go big on screen size and storage capacity, with that in mind: the Plus, and 128 GB.

BUY

DAVID

Audio Technica AT-LP60Forget those vinyl-destroying, vintage-inspired all-in-one units. They're all crap. The Audio Technica AT-LP60 is a fantastic beginner (or revivalist) turntable for the price. Its built-in pre-amp means all you need to do is plug it any powered speakers with an audio input.You won't find a better turntable than this for under $100 unless you hit the second-hand market.

BUY

MARK

Flitt Flying Pocket Selfie Camera Drone ($100)I honestly didn't expect that this tiny fold-up drone would perform as well as it does. It does a great job of hovering in place, and is easy to control with a smart phone. It's the first drone I can fly without crashing it into a wall or getting it stuck in a tree.

BUY

ROB

Kano Computer KitBuild your own computer and learn to code art, music, apps, games and more with the Kano Computer Kit, an introduction to the bare metal you just won't get with crap-laden commercial machines. Hundreds of schools use them, and Includes everything you need, including the Pi that acts as its brain, case, speaker, wireless keyboard, RAM, and cables. And unlike most edumuacational computer gear, it looks absolutely cool as heck.

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JASON

An airbag for your motorcyclistDo you love your motorcyclist? This simple, tether activated airbag inflates less than .10 of a second after a rider becomes separated from their bike. Helping to secure the neck, and protect the torso and internal organs, the Helite Turtle, is a top choice for next-generation motorcycle safety.

BUY

DAVID

Kindle E-reader loaded with free classicsFor $50, the entry-level Kindle E-reader is priced right, and comes in black or white! This model has a 6” display and the battery lasts for ages between charges. (If you want to get fancy, go for the Kindle Paperwhite with a built-in reading light so you don't bug bedmates.) Load it with free classic books from Project Gutenbergbefore gifting!

BUY

MARK

Igloohome Deadbolt2 ($238)The Igloohome Deadbolt2 has a programmable keypad instead of a keyhole. It took me about 20 minutes to install on my door. You can send your friends or other people single-use PINs. The smartphone app can also be set so the door unlocks when you touch the keypad - no PIN needed.

BUY

MARK

Mixcder Wireless & Wired Over Ear Headphones ($80)I bought these relatively inexpensive headphones for my daughter, who wanted wireless headphones for when she paints and sculpts. These are comfortable, have good sound quality, and pair easily with an iPhone.

BUY

MARK

PacSafe Transit Travel Hoodie ($130)The thing I like about this pocket-covered hoodie is that the interior pockets have little line drawings indicating what you should put in them - pen, eyeglasses, tablet computer, phone, passport, earbuds, wallet, etc. I like having a garment that tells me what to do, it keeps life simple while traveling.

BUY

ROB

Elf ear earbudsOnce hard to find, these low-end but unique earbuds are now at Amazon. For elves who can't quit their record collection even for a moment, they're still, sadly, only available in lily white. But cheap, at just $13.

BUY

ROB

Raspberry Pi 3 Model BThe best $35 you can spend on a wee yet straightforward and accessible barebones computer, Raspberry's Pi is now in its third generation and lives atop a vast and growing ecosystem of accessories, cases and general craziness to have fun with. The latest flagchip model has a 1.2GHz 64-bit quad-core CPU with twice the Pi 2's performance, integrated WiFi and Bluetooth, and backward compatibility with earlier models.

BUY

XENI

Black & Decker CHV1410L 16-volt Lithium Cordless Dust Buster Hand VacStill the best selling hand vac for keeping your office, home, workshop or hackerspace tidy. CHV1410L has strong suction, and a bagless dirt bowl that's easy to see and empty. Holds a charge for up to 18 months when it's off the charger. High efficiency Lithium ion chargers protect it by automatically shutting off when the battery is charged, so you can store it on the charger.

BUY

ROB

ArduboyBeautiful 1-bit graphics in your wallet! Arduboy is an open-source platform to create and share games and the hardware is made to the dimensions of a business card. Best of all, this tiny toy is only $50. Want more? The PocketChip, at $70, plays Pico-8 games with a dazzling 16 colors; the dev community is more mature and there are countless games already.

BUY

ROB

Second-gen Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inchWith the lastest 12.9" model I've changed my mind about Apple's biggest iPad. Its unmatched pencil latency and powerful processor leave Microsoft (and even Wacom) trailing, while markedly improved third-party applications make Photoshop less critical, at least for me. Finally.

BUY

Books and Media

MARK

The EC Artists Library Slipcase (Vol 3 $54)This high quality box set of four hardbound books has 904 pages of the very best comics of the 1950s. Volume one of this series is out of print and sells for over $250. Volume three is just $54. With art by greats like Wally Wood, Joe Orlando, John Severin, and George Evans, this set is a must-have for comic book aficionados.

BUY

CORY

Canadaland Guide to Canada (Published in America), by Jesse Brown and friendsBrown finds plenty of hilarious awfulness in Canada's past and present, especially in the way that Canadians talk about themselves when they expect Americans might be listening to them. From Justin Trudeau (who talks about refugees abandoned by Trump but takes no action to improve their lot, because he's too busy taking away the citizenship rights of naturalised Canadians with objectionable politics, greenlighting climate-destroying pipelines for the Tar Sands, and making the most of the sweeping surveillance powers he promised he'd abolish after taking office) to Rob Ford to Quebec separatism and the long, deplorable traditions of drunken, racist Canadian leaders who are remembered as wise, even-handed leaders, Brown punctures ever bubble that Canadians have ever blown over the border toward our American cousins.

I laughed aloud at many of these jokes, and they got under my skin, in just the same way that a perfect Samantha Bee rant will. This is a book of weaponised jokes about a country that has spent more than a century burnishing its credentials by blithely asserting its moral and temperamental superiority to its erratic and flamboyant southern neighbour -- and every shot hits its mark. [Read more]

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CORY

Briggs Land Volume 1: State of Grace, by Brian WoodStories matter: the recurring narrative of radical Islamic terror in America (a statistical outlier) makes it nearly impossible to avoid equating "terrorist" with "jihadi suicide bomber" -- but the real domestic terror threat is white people, the Dominionists, ethno-nationalists, white separatists, white supremacists and sovereign citizens who target (or infiltrate) cops and blow up buildings. That's what makes Brian Wood's first Briggs Land collection so timely: a gripping story of far-right terror that is empathic but never sympathetic.

Briggs Land builds on the empathic -- but not sympathetic -- portrayals of far-right separatists in Wood's seminal graphic novel DMZ. It's timely: the Trump era has been a moment of uneasy glory for white nationalists and their fellow travelers, who, having long craved the spotlight, aren't entirely sure what to do with it.

Briggs Land is also in development as an AMC TV series, further evidence of its zeitgeisty nature. Being a Brian Wood comic, it's also gripping as hell, a nonstop crime novel that involves rogue FBI agents, ruthless skinheads, closet racists and overt ones, doting parents who also happen to be unspeakable monsters. [Read More]

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CORY

Kindred (Graphic Novel), adapted from the novel by Octavia ButlerKindred is the story of Dana, an African-American writer married to a white man in 1976, who finds herself being violently yanked through time and space to the side of her distant ancestor, Rufus, the son of an enslaver who lives on a plantation in antebellum Delaware. Rufus -- a self-destructive, traumatized and spoiled child -- periodically puts himself in mortal danger, and when he does, Dana is torn from 1976 to save him, and is stranded in the violent, totalitarian south until she experiences mortal terror, whereupon she returns to her present, only moments after she left. Luckily for Dana, mortal terror is a commonplace occurance for black people in Delaware in the 19th century.

Dana's relationship to Rufus, and to Rufus's freeborn, African-American friend Alice -- whom Dana knows to be her ancestress -- is wrenching and claustrophobic, as she is enlisted to help Rufus sexually assault and eventually enslave Alice, revealing the deep violence lurking in Dana's own distant past.

For many years, Dana and her white husband, Kevin, are stranded in history, together and separately, and this affords Butler a chance to add yet more nuance to her tale, weaving in the point of view, privileges and horror of a white ally who, nevertheless, enjoys a measure of safety his black wife cannot claim.

The graphic novel adaptation is extremely faithful to the Butler novel, and does brilliant things with color-palettes, using different tones to demark the present and past, and also the belowstairs and abovestairs places in the lives of the enslaved people. The lines are vigorous and rough, conveying emotion and urgency.[Read More]

BUY

MARK

The Magic Machine: A Handbook of Computer Sorcery ($4)This 1990 BASIC programming book is long out-of-print, but is still valid and a great way to explore fractals and artificial life. I loved this book when it came out and just bought a replacement for my lost copy. Use copies are cheap on Amazon. Get it for a smart kid in your life.

BUY

DAVID

Voyager Golden RecordIn 1977, NASA launched two spacecraft, Voyager 1 and 2, on a grand tour of the solar system and into the mysteries of interstellar space. Attached to each ofthese probes is a beautiful golden phonograph record containing the story of our planet expressed in music, sounds, images, and science. It’s a message for any extraterrestrial intelligence that might encounter it. And now you can experience on Earth as a lavish 3xLP Box Set or 2xCD-Book edition.

BUY

DAVID

The Photographs Of Charles Duvelle - Disques OCORA And Collection PROPHETDecades before the term "world music" became common parlance, Charles Duvelle was traveling the globe recording the sounds and sights of indigenous people around the world. To enable us see the world through Duvelle's eyes, Sublime Frequencies' Hisham Mayet in collaboration with Duvelle released this magnificent tome contains field photographs from 1959-1978, a deep interview, a report he prepared for Unesco in 1978, and two CDs of music that will move you.

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DAVID

Art Sex Music by Cosey Fanni TuttiThe stunning memoir of musician, artist, and cultural provocateur Cosey Fanni Tutti is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of avant-garde music, performance art, underground culture, radical living, and female empowerment. Best known as co-founder of pioneering industrial groups Coum Transmissions and Throbbing Gristle (famously called “wreckers of civilisation” by a British MP), Cosey has also explored the fringes of sex, music, and creativity as a pornographic model, video artist, electronic composer, and, yes, writer. This is her story so far and it’s a doozy.

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DAVID

Little Book of Wonders: Celebrating the Gifts of the Natural World by Nadia DrakeNational Geographic contributor Nadia Drake’s science writing sings with knowledge, rigor, and her own infectious curiosity. This slim and delightful book is no exception. A lovely miniature wunderkammer of Earth’s magical places, startling phenomena, and amazing wildlife, it pairs beautiful photos with Nadia’s poetic and informative captions that spark the imagination and instill a sense of wonder about our world.

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DAVID

Dalí: The Wines of GalaFirst published in 1978, Salvador Dalí’s The Wines of Gala is a stunning and strange guide that groups wines “according to the sensations they create in our very depths” such as “Wines of Frivolity,” “Wines of the Impossible,” and “Wines of Light.” Featuring more than 140 of Dalí’s surrealist illustrations, this is the most bizarre, sensual, and sensational book about viticulture and libations that you’ll ever experience.

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CORY

THEFT: A History of Music, by James Boyle and Jennifer JenkinsTheft traces millennia of musical history, from Plato's injunction against mixing musical styles to the outrage provoked by the troubadours who appropriated sacred music and turned it into bawdy songs about wanting to have sex with hot teenagers (a trick Ray Charles repeated hundreds of years later!); from the racist outrage over rock and roll's challenge to white supremacy to the fights over sampling and the exploitation of African-American musicians who were ripped off 40 years ago versus the interests of their musical progeny whose sample-based music has been distorted and even outlawed by the same musical corporations that screwed the R&B artists, in the name of defending those artists (!).

Jenkins and Boyle are two of the staunchest defenders of fair use and remixing -- their first comic, Bound by Law, was a kind of Understanding Comics for the legalities of fair use -- and it shows: Theft is as laden with visual, textual and musical references as a Dizzy Gillespie solo, an early Public Enemy wall-of-sound, an illegal Girl Talk mashup.[Read More]

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CORY

The Free, by Lauren McLaughlinIsaac West is a mixed-race kid who never knew his dad; he and his sister have raised their alcoholic, abusive mother as much as she's raised them. But Isaac has a plan: his little sister Janelle is smart, better than he'll ever be, and he's going to get her out of their mutual hellhole and into a private school -- and to make that happen, he's graduated from petty theft into grand theft auto, under the supervision of his high-school auto-shop teacher, a cut-rate Fagin who trains and oversees a gang of junior car thieves.

It's this teacher who insists that Isaac should plead guilty to beating a man comatose in a car-heist that went wrong, though the kid who actually did the beat-down was the teacher's cousin, a hulking giant of a kid who has already got a conviction under his belt and faces being tried as an adult if he goes down.

For Isaac, it's an easy choice: spend 30 days in juvie, complete his rehab program, and in return, he'll get enough to send Janelle off to private school. All he has to do is survive, and he's been doing that all his life.

From here, McLaughlin has all the elements for a tight, claustrophobic novel that veers between the terror and camaraderie of incarceration; the brutally honest drama therapy group that Isaac must attend if he's to be released; the mounting danger to his sister and all of the repressed feelings and guilt that weigh Isaac down.

While there's some revenge and redemption here, mostly what there is is unblinking reality, a willingness to confront the impossible without denying it. The kids in Isaac's world are in trouble, and that trouble isn't going to get better for most of them, and maybe not for Isaac. Some of those kids are pretty terrible, but even at their worst, they're still kids, and still rounded people with their own virtues and stories.

I don't know when I've read a more empathic novel, and it's been a long time since I read one that was more sorrowful and joyful at the same time. [Read More]

BUY

ROB

The Complete Elfquest Vol. 4Fresh out in November, this volume contains some of the most exquisite and touching episodes of Wendy and Richard Pini's Elfquest saga, a great alternative to genre fantasy and its grim 'n' gritty modern counterparts. One of America's best indie comics, it's illustrated by Wendy's wonderful artwork �� even at its most lighthearted, unanswerable questions of identity, family and freedom lurk between the lines. (Newcomers should not feel they have to start at the beginning, but it sure helps.)

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CORY

The Hardware Hacker: Adventures in Making and Breaking Hardware, by Andrew "bunnie" HuangThe book draws heavily on Huang's own hardware projects, which have included substantial manufacturing in south China, with many hard-won lessons about how things can go wrong and how to make them go right. This is more than a checklist or memoir: it's nothing less than a masterclass in modern manufacturing, and even if you never plan on manufacturing anything, reading these chapters will explain the material world around you like few other texts.

This dovetails neatly into a meditation on the differences between Western and Chinese approaches to "intellectual property" and the way this has informed the manufacturing processes whose outflows are all around us. In these chapters, Huang proves himself to be a thoughtful and incisive critic of law as well as technology, and the thorny questions he raises show up the normal discussion on these subjects up for a shallow scrape over the surface of something deep and difficult.

Huang uses these broad legal and technical passages as a foundation for the second half of the book, which lay out the detective work that Huang did to realize his various hardware challenges, from stick-on soft circuits to an insanely clever device that circumnavigates the law through tight and unsuspected secret creeks that allow him to enter territory that no engineer has ever seen by legal means.

The book concludes with its most speculative and future-looking chapter: a disquisition on the similarities (and differences) between computational bioscience and hardware hacking, based on his work with his "perlfriend" -- his perl-hacking, bioscientist girlfriend -- on hacking genomes. [Read More]

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CORY

New York 2140, by Kim Stanley RobinsonIt's 2140 and trillions of dollars' worth of the world's most valuable real estate is now submerged under fifty feet of water, resulting from two great "surges" where runaway polar melting created sudden, punctuated disasters that displaced billions of people, wiped trillions off the world's balance sheets, and turned the great cities of the world into drowned squatter camps.

But it's 2140, and the cities are coming back. The combination of financial speculation, desperate refugees willing to do anything to find shelter, and new technological innovations are spawning "SuperVenice"s where boats replace cars and high-rises connect to each other with fairytale skybridges, and pumped-out subway stations become underwater leisure clubs. No SuperVenice is more super than New York City, where the boats ply midtown Manhattan's skyscrapers and everything from Chelsea down is an intertidal artificial reef where, every now and again, hundreds of squatters die as the buildings topple.

The forces of finance are deeply interested in the intertidal zones. These great cities were once the world's ultimate luxury products and now they're marine salvage, waiting to be dredged up from the tidal basins, dusted off and monetized. Yeah, there's millions of inconvenient poors hanging out in them, but they're a market failure, producing suboptimal rents on some seriously distressed assets that need a little TLC, capital infusion, and ruthless securitization to bring them back.

Robinson is a master of turning stories about zoning disputes and local politics into gripping, un-put-down-able adventure tales (his novel Pacific Edge remains the most uplifting book in my library). New York 2140 is a spectacular exemplar of the tactic: the financial shenanigans form a backdrop for submarine drone-wars, black-ops kidnappings, private security assassinations, non-state actor cyberwar and economic terrorism, buried treasure hunting, and big, muscular technologies from giant dredging barges to aerosolized diamond sprays. [Read More]

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CORY

WAKE UP!, by Rick Lieder and Helen FrostLife is a continuing cycle of newness, then growth, and then gone: then birth and growth again. Photographer Rick Lieder started thinking about that theme of new life and new beginnings several years ago, and WAKE UP!, published by Candlewick Press, is the result. Working with his collaborator, poet Helen Frost, our book is about opening eyes—our own, first—and pointing to the world that’s right here, containing us all. Helen and rick are both based in the US Midwest, so we started there, with a world that we didn’t need to travel far to explore, only wake up enough to actually see. [Read More]

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CORY

Penguin Galaxy Boxed Set, introduced by Neil GaimanLast October, Penguin released its Galaxy boxed set, a $133 set of six hardcover reprints of some of science fiction's most canonical titles: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K LeGuin; Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein; 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C Clarke; Dune by Frank Herbert; The Once and Future King by TH White; and Neuromancer, by William Gibson.

The series is curated and introduced by Neil Gaiman, whose essay on the charm and value of science fiction appears at the start of each of the handsome volumes. It's a fine essay, placing each book in its historical context, and turning a writerly eye to their construction and techniques, as well as some of the memoir that makes Gaiman essays such fine reads (see, for example, his 2016 essay collection The View From the Cheap Seats).

As nice as that essay is, it's eclipsed by the gorgeous design, courtesy of Spanish designer Alex Trochut, whose impressive CV includes a Grammy nomination for Best Recording Package. Trochut does away with fussy book-jackets and prints his titles straight onto the books' boards in stylized, embossed gold leaf type -- with clever type-art for every cover. [Read More]

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CORY

Brutal London: Construct Your Own Concrete CapitalBrutal London: Construct Your Own Concrete Capital tells the stories of nine of London's greatest brutalist structures (with an intro by Norman Foster!), including the Barbican Estate, Robin Hood Gardens, Balfron Tower and the National Theatre -- and includes pull-out papercraft models of these buildings for you to assemble and display. [Read More]

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CORY

SHADE THE CHANGING GIRL v.1: Earth Girl Made Easy, by Cecil CastellucciLoma Shade, as her own unique character, was a way of being steeped in the world of Shade the Changing Man, while being its own thing. Some people say that Shade the Changing Girl seems to be a direct sequel of the Milligan run. I say not so. I’ve always approached it as a kind of side-quel. Creator Cecil Castellucci wanted to take care to have nods and echoes to them both, but to be able to stand narratively on its own. It was a way of striking out in a new direction while plucking elements from the Ditko original and the Milligan run.

Our Shade the Changing Girl is a way of changing the changing.

The body of a teenage girl was a great place to start that change. The body of bully was the way to take it to the next level. The idea of a real alien, who moves like a bird in human form was the best way to express it. Add in Marley Zarcone’s wongld. They are blooming and bursting with feelings and big body changes. They are confident and awkward. They are experimenting with identity. They are constantly changing.

When we are teenagers, we are figuring out how to become who we are. To throw down and figure out what it really means to be human and to break free from our parents and to think for our selves. This is why Castellucci loved writing Shade, because as an alien, she mirrors our own growth in this world. She can see the quotidian with eyes that we can’t see the world with. She has to figure out how to transform herself from who she was to who she isn’t. And through her we dive deep into her attempts to discover the meaning of humanity. Loma Shade is changed profoundly by being this mean girl and having to navigate the fall out of living in Megan’s body and in her world. [Read More]

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CORY

Paper Girls 1, 2 and 3, by Brian K Vaughanhttps://boingboing.net/2016/12/14/brian-k-vaughan-and-cliff-chan.html https://Paper Girls stars an all-girl cast of newspaper delivery kids for a fictional Cleveland newspaper, circa 1988 -- they are instantly and wholeheartedly likable, like the Goonies or the cast of Stranger Things. They convene on November 1, when the mean teenagers of Cleveland are still out an about and making mischief, picking on the likes of them, and they band together in mutual self-defense.

Then things get weird.

The girls are assaulted by a group of costumed teens, who rip off a Radio Shack walkie-talkie that one of them saved for months to buy. The girls chase down these goons, ending up in a partially built house, whose basement holds a spaceship of some kind, or maybe it's a time-machine -- and after a flash and a bang, they emerge to a transformed neighborhood, overcast with a tornado out of which flap huge, monstrous dinosaurs ridden by lance-wielding, argot-speaking warriors who kill and kidnap all they meet.

Before long, the girls are hurled into a mystery tale of Vaughnian complexity, chased through time and space, meeting ambiguous heroes and villains, including several who may be clones of them -- or older versions, or neither. (Don't foreget books Two and Three) [Read More]

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CORY

Bitch Doctrine: Essays for Dissenting Adults, by Laurie PennyIf you've followed Penny's work, you'll know that the thing that sets her apart from other enraged columnists is her empathy: her ability to understand the self-serving rationalizations, radioactive bullshit, and emotional damage that drives men to threaten her with rape and murder for pointing out that things aren't exactly fair.

But while Penny is perfectly capable of understanding her ideological opponents -- better than they understand themselves, without a doubt -- she doesn't offer them any sympathy. This sympathy -- no less well-informed, no less analytical -- is reserved for people who are getting the shittiest end of the stick: trans people, people of color, poor people, disabled people, other women. Even when she feuds with them, even when she is laid low by anger from her allies, she does the hard work to look past her own hurt feelings, to the missteps that let her to a place of conflict.

Penny is a bridge between two modes of political writing, a hybrid that gets the best of both and offsets their deficits: on the one hand, she's clearly in the Hunter S Thompson gonzo tradition (her adventures running down violent neo-Nazis in Greece are a match for anything HST wrote about Hell's Angels or police detective conventions); on the other hand, she's got the scholarly habit of finding and presenting an issue from every side, even the ones she disagrees with. But while the gonzos reduce their opponents to caricatures, and while scholarly work can dissolve the point of view into a view from nowhere, wishy-washy and free from any kind of thesis or real muscle, Penny is able to forcefully convey her point of view, and back it up by showing that she understands exactly what her opponents are thinking, and why, precisely, they are full of shit. [Read More]

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CORY

Lizard Music, by Daniel PinkwaterLizard Music is a novel about Victor, a kid who falls asleep while doing a model airplane and wakes up when the local TV station is going off the air, who discovers that the true late-night programming comes from humanoid lizards who live in a secret nearby volcano and worship Walter Cronkite.

Victor travels to the land of the lizards with the Chicken Man, a recurring Pinkwater character: a kind of hobo figure whose pet chicken is wise beyond her years and dander. What happens next will... Well, it will make you weirder.

No author has ever captured the great fun of being weird, growing up as a happy mutant, unfettered by convention, as well as Pinkwater has. When I was a kid, Pinkwater novels like Lizard Music made me intensely proud to be a little off-center and weird -- they taught me to woo the muse of the odd and made me the happy adult I am today. It's one of those books that, in the right hands at the right time, can change your life for the better and forever. [Read More]

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CORY

Landscape With Invisible Hand, by MT AndersonIn 2002, MT Anderson blew up the YA dystopia world with Feed, his zeitgeisty, prescient novel about "identity crises, consumerism, and star-crossed teenage love in a futuristic society where people connect to the Internet via feeds implanted in their brains" -- in his latest, Landscape with Invisible Hand, Anderson takes us to a world where neoliberal aliens have sold Earth's plutocrats the technologies to make work obsolete and with it, nearly human being on earth.

Now we all have to live with that reality: former superstar luxury car salesmen, bank tellers, teachers, programmers -- everyone except for a tiny elite of financial engineers, really -- have been replaced by technology sold by the vuuv (that's the alien race) to the world's 1 percenters when they inducted the human race into the galactic prosperity sphere.

Landscape is told as a series of acerbic, short vignettes -- latter-day Douglas Coupland riffs -- in the voice of Adam, a teenager living in a rotting suburban home amidst the remains of his rotting suburban life, scrounging for rice and beans and painting, painting, painting, the only escape he has. Each chapterlette opens with Adam describing a painting that sets the scene, part of the blasted, wasted dystopia that 99% of the human race lives in while sneering aliens and financial executives tell them to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, get jobs, and stop looking for handouts. [Read More]

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ROB

Stories of Your Life and OthersTed Chiang's writing is rare and precise, weaving threads of science fiction into something so haunting and humane I've woken up dreaming about it more than once. Here you can read most of his published work, including the novella that was recently filmed as Arrival and is currently in U.S. theaters. But my favorites are the Borgesian "Tower of Babel," about an engineer breaking through the vault of heaven, and "Division by Zero."

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CORY

The Power, by Naomi AldermanIn The Power, a day dawns, not so long from now, in which every 15-year-old girl finds herself with the power to deal out electric shocks, emanating from an unsuspected organ called "the skein," which rests along the collarbone. What's more, any woman can do the trick, once a 15 year old shows them how.

Chaos. Glorious chaos.

The world's sex-slaves kill their pimps. The women of Saudi Arabia foment revolution. Women whose husbands beat them strike back. Girls whose fathers rape them find themselves able to defend themselves -- with lethal force, if it comes to that.

Concerned parents ask to have their boys separated from the vicious girls who stalk them through school. Mean girl cliques take on a new, deadly overtone. Law and order teeters.

Against this background, a cast of characters: Roxy, the daughter of a ruthless British gangster; Joc, the daughter of an ambitious midwestern politician; Allie, a much-abused foster kid whose foster father has a surprise in store for him, and Tunde, a Nigerian lad whose workshops of storytelling through digital photography just took on a new significance.

Through these characters, a plot as intricate and fast moving as any thriller, with lots of grace notes and seeming detours that converge with the main storyline, giving it energy and velocity.

And throughout, when you're finished, the realization that there was so much more going on, stuff I can't discuss without spoilers -- a story within the story that is chilling, thrilling, disturbing. [Read More]

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Archangel, by William GibsonFrom the start of its run in 2016, Archangel went from strength to strength, packing in so many goddamned O.G. cyberpunk eyeball kicks per page that it felt like some kind of cask-strength distillation of all the visual and action elements that gave the original mirrorshades stuff its dark glitter.

Now that the comic's run is done, the five-issue tale is revealed as a masterful, beautifully plotted war story set in three different wars: WWII as we know it, WWII as it might have been, and a distant all-out nuclear conflagration that may or may not have been an inside job.

This is a time-travel story, but it's one that sets out to break the genre's conventions: it opens with the ruthless son of America's power-grabbed president-for-life traveling back to Berlin at the end of WWII to murder his grandfather and take his place. Take that, grandfather parodox.

Hunting the president's son and his goons is "The Pilot," a USAF ninja in a camouflage suit who must prevent Junior from destroying another world without giving Junior the chance to detonate the belly-bomb all US armed-forces members must have implanted when they enlist. Thankfully, it has a 30 foot range.

Archangel is visually stunning, with all the dark romance of war-torn Berlin as a setting: deviant cabarets, black marketeers' dens, chop-shops, makeshift Soviet command-posts and secret airfields. Then there's the futuristic world of Junior and the president, seen in a cramped bunker in which a rogue scientist is scrambling to support The Pilot from the distant future and a different timeline. [Read More]

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Vacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches, by John HodgmanMy first impression of Vacationland was that I'd found a modern version of Steve Martin's classic Cruel Shoes. Hodgman is so very witty, and as he sets up his memoir -- the story of how he was a weird kid raised by loving but largely unconcerned parents -- he has so many tinder-dry asides and beautifully turned sentences and jokes with long fuses that unexpectedly detonate paragraphs later that I was really getting ready to relive my own childhood.

Right as I was getting comfortably settled into Vacationland, I discovered that Hodgman had smoothly transitioned me into some really profound emotional truth -- it's where he starts talking about his mother's untimely death and how he reacted to her terminal illness -- and then back into that dry, comedic mode, slipping the knife in and pulling it out so smoothly that I hadn't even noticed until the blood started to drip. That kind of maneuver requires both a steady hand a very sharp knife, and Hodgman has both.

This sneaky book pulls that move over and over, using comedy and narrative confidence to make important points about privilege, self-delusion, parenting, death, birth, cities, alienation, love -- the whole gamut.

All without ever losing the comedy, which is funny stuff, and it's not a spoonful of sugar that helps all that serious medicine go down, it's perfectly blended into those serious themes.

This isn't a book like Cruel Shoes: it's the book Cruel Shoes gets to be when it grows up. [Read More]

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XENI

Sport-Brella XLPortable wind, sun, and rain shelter that's easy to set up. Can you open an umbrella? Can you drive a couple stakes into the ground? You got this, then. Haul it to the beach, outdoor gatherings or events, camping, sports, and you feel like you have a little private room outdoors. Comes in 6 different colors. Provides UPF 50+ shade. Opens to 9 feet wide, has a metallic undercoating for additional sun protection, internal pockets for stakes, valuables, and gear, plus top wind vents and side zippered windows for efficient airflow. Water resistant, weighs only 11.5 pounds. I first saw someone else on our local beach use it, and asked them where they bought it. Amazonned one for myself. Now I use it nearly every weekend, and love it.

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3" Glass PyramidMade of "optically clear crystal" and three inches tall, Amlong's Crystal Pyramid is the best Crystal Pyramid. My bacon is fresh, my airspace dangerous, and my undertakings favored.

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MARK

OXO Good Grips Solid Stainless Steel Ice Cream Scoop ($15)The old ice cream scoop we had wasn't really an ice cream scoop. It was a disher, and was more suited for scooping mashed potatoes than ice cream. When the trigger mechanism on it finally broke, I happily got rid of it and replaced it with the OXO Good Grips Solid Stainless Steel Ice Cream Scoop($15). This surprisingly heavy scoop is made from a solid chunk of stainless steel with a comfortable rubber grip, and comes with a pointed end that digs right into hard ice cream, especially if you run hot water over it. It's supposedly dishwasher safe but why put it in the dishwasher? Just rinse it and dry it with a towel.

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XENI

Brondell SourceI bought the Brondell Source in 2015 and it alleviated allergy symptoms; here's the latest model, adding a touchscreen, remote control and an adjustable air quality sensor. Rids the air of dust and dander and tiny particles you don’t need to be breathing—but also filters volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Three-stage advanced purifier system includes certified True HEPA and Granulated Carbon technology. Glowing light indicator tells you when it’s working. One time my dog farted a particularly noxious plume and this thing kicked into high gear with an emergency red glow. That’s when I knew I’d be giving it a five star recommendation.

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Lynx Sonoma Stainless Steel Countertop Natural Gas Smoker ($2500)This capacious, ultra high-end smoker has a digital control panel, smoker chip box, an instant-reading meat probe. It's got built-in Wi-Fi, of course, so you can monitor the process wherever you are.

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JASON

Wise Owl Camping HammockThe comfort to weight ratio of a good camping hammock is off the charts. Durable and easy to set up, you'll be happy anyplace you can find two appropriately spaced trees.

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XENI

Cuisinart 14-Cup Food ProcessorThe latest model of the best food processor for people who are serious about broadening their happy foodie horizons. Shove entire fruits and veggies into the giant feed tube. Listen to the 720-watt motor fill a 14-cup work bowl with steel slicing and shredding discs. It still comes with a free recipe book.

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Toys and Games

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Rainbow SlimeA glittery additive mixed with kid-safe Elmer's glue, Rainbow Slime is what you make of it. Fun when forming and flexible when dry, the results are beautiful, weird and extremely cheap at $6 or so.

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The Intellivision Flashback ConsoleRemember the unlucky kid with the parents who got them an "Intellivision" instead of an Atari? Make someone that miserable again! With games no one can remember except maybe that OK one with a snake that couldn't touch its tail but isn't SNAFU, the Intellivision really sucked.

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DAVID

Ejector Seat Button For Your CarA perfect stocking stuffer, this very clever eject button fits into most automobile cigarette lighter sockets. Unfortunately, the product listing clearly states that it's "designed for show only." It is a functional cigarette lighter though so I guess they mean it won't actually trigger your ejector seat.

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DAVID

Swish card gameA beautiful and deeply compelling card game, Swish is challenges your spatial perception to find matches of balls and hoops on transparent cards. It’s a wordless game of pattern recognition that has entranced my entire family including our youngest child, age 8.

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Bulk Generic LegoYou can get 1000 random pieces of off-brand building bricks for less than $30, guaranteed to "fit tight" and come with "less filler" than the even-cheaper bulk buys.

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Palomino Blackwing 602 Pencils ($23/doz.)This is a faithful reproduction of the Eberhard Faber original, which is no longer being made. Blackwing 602 have dark, soft lead (the motto printed on the pencil reads"Half the pressure, twice the speed") and features a unique eraser holder. I've been using them for years.

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JASON

Make your own Crazy Aaron's Thinking PuttyThe one thing my 10-year-old enjoys more than making her own floam or slime is playing with Thinking Putty. Textured quite like the legendary Silly Putty of yore, Crazy Aaron's putties come in a rainbow of colors and styles. This set lets you design your own! I am pretty sure Mark could be easily distracted by a can of magnetic Thinking Putty.

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Copic Ciao Marker SetAt about $200, a full set of 72 Copic markers is a pricey proposition. But that's because they're the absolute best, with perfect colors, easy blending, and a big brush tip good for detail and wash alike. Dip an elbow in the water with a relatively inexpensive 12-marker set; great deals on partially-used sets can also be found haunting eBay.

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Because cats are totally down with the Dark SideYoda and Chewie as mice for your cat to attack, because all cats align with the Dark Side. Except for Loth-Cats for some reason, but I wouldn't exactly trust them either.

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Star Wars Viewmaster gift setI am not sure how the whole putting gifts in a sock thing works, but this Darth Vader themed Viewmaster Viewer looks like it'd fit in a traditional Christ inspired gifting sock. Star Wars Viewmaster reels are always pretty sweet. This also makes a good Hanukkah day 4-7 gift for kids who can pull off the entire 8-day challenge. My kid starts getting a hug after day 3.

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You sank my holiday experience!While it doesn't look much like the genre-defining 'This game isn't as much fun as a commercial made it look' toy of our youth, Electronic Battleship is now more exciting looking while boastin' the same old lows in game-play disappointment! Eeeeelectronic Battleship is no more fun than regular old Battleship, which is also a pretty god damn boring game. This is an excellent gift for someone you do not like, but want to appear you gave a cool gift at opening time.

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Prison Life RobloxKnow a kid that just can't behave? Maybe a co-worker? Make sure they understand a life of crime will come to no good.

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Mysterious and Indistinct ShirtFabulous yet classy, the Mysterious and Indistinct Shirt is a premium youth tee and "wears rough and tough for kids who play the same way."

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MastermindInvented in 1970 by an Israeli telecom expert, Mastermind is still the terrific game of strategy, logic, and deduction that you might remember from childhood. True, the packaging lacks the Bond-inspired photo of the dignified man and woman that appeared on the original box, but the game is just as elegant and addictive.

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Largemouth bass sandalsYou will look amazing in sandals that look like gasping largemouth bass, seriously (max size is a Men's 10, so only the dainty of feed need apply, e.g., not me). [Read More]

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Blank Playing CardsMake your own games! Or just stare at them. Whatever.

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Naughty + Nice

MARK

Wink Plus ($79)In William Burroughs' novel Naked Lunch, Steely Dan III from Yokohama was the name of a stainless steel sex toy. The USB-chargeable Wink Plus vibrator from Crave is probably not what Old Bill Lee had in mind, because it is quite small, but it is made from stainless steel, and packs quite a vibrational wallop, with five intensity levels and two patterns.

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Wolf Crotch UnderwearWith a "convex design, large space and breathable," the 3D Wolf Head Crotch Underwear "make man looks sexy and wild" and can be yours for as little as five American dollars.

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JASON

Spend your holiday season TwistedThe Twisty Glass Blunt is a brain-hammer. Fill the glass chamber with your favorite herb, screw in the brass mouthpiece, and you are prepared to smoke a lot of weed. Perfect for a day at the beach, or an outdoor music festival, the Twisty Glass Blunt is an absolute favorite. I've got the mini as well.

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JASON

Poop emoji Santa HatWar on Christmas? Christmas seems to be integrating into todays meme-filled emoticon world. Now your Santa can proudly display his favorite emoji, or perhaps this is mean to signify something else.

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https://boingboing.net/2017/11/25/giftguide2017.html

[shirlleycoyle]

This $200 Laptop Is Like a Chromebook You Can Hack

A version of this post originally appeared on Tedium, a twice-weekly newsletter that hunts for the end of the long tail.

For some reason, despite the fact that our devices can seemingly do anything with an impressive level of polish, there are folks who want to learn from the tech they use.

They want a challenge—and an adventure. I think I’ve learned over the last year or two that I’m one of those people. I primarily like using Hackintoshes despite the fact that the machines are intended for Windows, and I will mess with old pieces of computing history just to see if they uncover new ways of thinking about things.

So when I heard about the Pinebook Pro, I was in. Here was a laptop built on the same ARM architecture primarily used for smartphones and internet-of-things devices, and designed to run Linux. Is it for everyone?

Maybe not. But, if you love an adventure, you should be excited about what it represents.

The only logo you’ll find on this entire device. Image: Ernie Smith

The Pinebook Pro’s hardware does the right things right—and cuts corners thoughtfully

Most companies want to scream out their brand name at you everywhere. Not Pine64, the community-focused maker of single-board computers that has done a lot of branching out in the past year or so.

On its latest laptop, literally nothing on the outside signifies that Pine64 was responsible for building this machine, minus a small pinecone logo on the key where most manufacturers might put a Windows logo.

If there’s a reason for that, it’s rooted in the community around this machine that drives the Pine64 project forward. In an interview from a couple of months ago, Pine64 community manager Lukasz Erecinski told me that the while certain hardware decisions were driven by developers in the space and people in the community.

“We listened and took note of the features the community truly wants, such as privacy switches for the camera, microphone and radios; modern IO interfaces; no excessive branding; end-user repairability, and we tried to deliver the best laptop we can,” he explained.

The delivery part is admittedly not easy for something like this. It took me about two months to get the device directly from Hong Kong, and the Wuhan coronavirus could cause delays for future units. Mine was one of the first units Pine64 produced that had a U.S.-centric ANSI keyboard; all of the devices released before the one I received this month used an Eurocentric ISO keyboard. The manufacturing process here is small, bespoke. Erecinski and the firm’s other main figures are moving carefully as they put these devices into the world.

You’re not buying this machine because you’re looking for something simple and cheap—it’s not like the original Pinebook, a $99 device that is basically a proof of concept that a community-built laptop is an actual thing that could exist. (Linus Tech Tips reviewed it last year, though again, it’s a proof of concept.) You could hit up eBay or your local Target for a cheap Chromebook if you wanted that, and skip out on the wait.

Rather, it’s a weekend-warrior machine, a product for people who think ARM is awesome, who think Linux is awesome, and who like the idea of developing on native hardware, or who want an actual keyboard, rather than a cheap tablet. (Side note: Pine64 is also working on a Linux-based tablet now. And a smartphone. And a smartwatch. Like I said, they’ve been busy.)

There’s a general understanding that, even if this device is only $200 plus shipping, people are doing to get more than $200 of use from it. From that front, I think they did a great job making the device feel nicer than the price point might suggest. The case, with its magnesium trims and plastic top case, wears its budget status thoughtfully. The decision to put metal on the outside, sandwiching a plastic interior, feels inspired, as it’s usually the opposite of what many Chromebook-makers do. It’s a great example of stretching a tight budget in a thoughtful way.

And that’s a common theme of the device, whose creators invested in things users would want (a relatively-beefy-for-budget ARM device, a 1080p matte screen, a useable keyboard, a USB-C port). Sure, corners were cut, but they were cut in places where it makes sense to trim, where the price tag makes them easy to explain away. A few examples:

The trackpad is tiny and plasticky, but perfectly usable. (Suggestion: Don’t click; tap.)

The outer case is a fingerprint magnet in a way most laptops are not, to the point where you wish they gave it an extra layer of coating. Fortunately, it’s also quite good for stickers, which I recommend you use for covering this thing.

And the speakers are cheap, in a bad way—but the Bluetooth works, as does the headphone jack. You don’t buy a device like this for the speakers.

You’re willing to forgive a lot because of the fact that this is a team of experimenters that was willing to put their necks out for a group of people that find a non-Intel-based laptop an awesome proposition. I mean, I certainly did.

It doesn’t come with much in the way of warranty—just a month—which is almost freeing in a way. You can break it, but you can also break it, if you get my drift. It’s not like you spent $2,500 on it.

And even amid the compromises, the device has a huge advantage over your average Chromebook in one important place: The ease of repair and modification. You can open this machine up and replace things. The default eMMC storage can be upgraded; you can get an adapter to install an NVMe SSD blade; and because the device has single-board computer roots, it’s not outside of the realm of imagination that you might be able to put another board inside of this machine in the future, while reusing most of the other parts. This is a $200 laptop with an upgrade path, and that’s a rare thing in 2020—especially for a low-stakes device like this.

There didn’t appear to be anywhere to screw in the NVMe adapter, so I just held it in place with that big yellow sticker. I’ll eventually switch to double-sided tape.

As a part of my research into this, I got a hold of an NVMe adapter (sold separately, delivered much quicker than the computer itself) and tried installing a drive myself. The results weren’t perfect: The adapter doesn’t seem to naturally fit anywhere, and a sticker, announcing changes to the device’s internal design, blocked the spot for the ribbon adapter. When I removed that sticker, I got the ribbon cable in, only to find that there is seemingly no easy way to fit in the adapter, which partly goes under the trackpad. It was just hanging out. Fortunately, I had the sticker to go where screws couldn’t. (I joked on Twitter that it’s a load-bearing sticker.)

There are things that one could quibble about with this design—the hinge could stand to go back a little bit further, for example, and backlit keys would definitely be useful—but I think that they pulled off a lot in an extremely tight budget.

The battery life on this is insane—8 to 10 hours easily. And because it doesn’t use a ton of power, it can charge off a cell phone’s power brick, as long as it uses USB-C (though a barrel plug charger is included). If you were backpacking across a continent and wanted the most lightweight and battery-packed device possible, the Pinebook Pro would be a contender.

There were some areas where the device buckled a bit in my testing. For example, while the device is technically capable of 4K video, plugging it into a USB-C adapter on my 4K monitor was a strugglefest. I’m sure that, if I keep tinkering or find a different cable, I can get it to work. Just like a lot of other things here.

Because honestly, that’s the point of this device.

“Our end-users are very well informed, usually technical and specifically want an ARM laptop.”

— Lukasz Erecinski, discussing the user base for Pine64 devices, which is often very community driven and in the open-source spirit.

Software considerations: Get ready to tinker

The first time you boot into your Pinebook Pro, you’re greeted with a red intro screen, complete with Pine64 logo (the same one on the keyboard), that says, “Open Sesame.”

That description feels pretty accurate. This is a device intended in many ways for discovery of the Linux ecosystem, its benefits and quirks, and what might or might not work out of the box. You don’t buy this because you want to save money that you’d otherwise use for a Chromebook; you buy it because you want to be able to screw around a bit.

By choosing an ARM-based device over x86, you’re cutting down your options for both operating systems and software, but there’s still plenty of stuff there. Most of the major browsers have ARM variants, most notably Chromium and Firefox, and I found the ARM version of Vivaldi quite nice. YouTube playback was perfectly serviceable, and I ran into very few situations where I couldn’t install an app because it had not been designed for ARM-based Linux. There’s reason to expect that situation to improve in the coming years, thanks to the rise of hobbyist computers like this.

So, what about the operating systems? I think this is where my viewpoint gets a little mixed. The default Debian-based build included, with a MATE-based graphical interface, is simple and spartan—not as polished as some of the x86-based alternatives, but still offering plenty to work with. It does the job. If you’re just looking for the machine to work, this is probably the default you’ll want to stick with.

Fortunately for those wanting more than that, trying other operating systems is very doable—with the included MicroSD slot, I was able to throw in different cards and try out numerous community builds that supported this device. With the exception of the Android build, I was able to get every one I tried to work with varying levels of stability.

Chromium OS worked decently for surfing the web, but the offered community build had some stability issues and didn’t allow for easily installation of the software’s pretty-good Linux capabilities. As it’s not a pure Linux build it’s likely not getting as much attention as some of the others, but I hope that changes, as it’s a fairly decent way to surf the web on the cheap and it has some great stretch capabilities.

The Manjaro build (which uses a KDE Plasma desktop interface) was nice, though not my personal cup of tea, as I tend to be more comfortable in Debian/Ubuntu terminals. Probably my favorite of the bunch, though, was the Ubuntu MATE community build, which is more customizable than the default Debian MATE build—although, like Chromium OS, it had some quirks, most notably some compatibility issues with the NVMe drive that prevented the laptop from going to sleep.

If you’re looking for a Linux experience with training wheels, this probably isn’t it, and you’ll be happier setting up an old x86 laptop to try the more diverse ecosystem of Linux variants—among them System76’s simple and thoughtful Pop OS Ubuntu variant, the Mac-like Elementary OS, the switcher-targeted Zorin OS, and the highly polished Chinese-made Deepin.

But I don’t think that’s necessarily a knock on the Pinebook Pro. You should get it because you know you’re going to spend weekends messing around with random settings, or programming. And when you do get things where you like them, you get a device with a nice keyboard, a long battery life, and a fully repairable interior.

This ecosystem is still fairly young, and young ecosystems grow older and more diverse over time. This comes with good sides and bad sides. While you can tinker to your heart’s content with a device like this, it also means that you’re at the mercy of fellow tinkerers when something doesn’t work quite right. That might just lead you to a solution, but because it’s relatively early days in the world of ARM-based laptops, you’re stuck if something doesn’t work.

In a year, the operating system situation is likely to look a lot different because there’s a community pushing it forward. If you buy this, you’re buying into the community as much as the device—and Pine64 has a really interesting community right now, one that will become fundamental to its future growth.

And with that in mind, you can see the potential down the line. In our interview, Erecinski noted that there is room for system-on-a-chip (SoC) gadgets to eventually become useful to more than just the tinkerers that will buy this.

“I feel that we are getting very close to ARM Linux desktop computers being viable as a choice for non-technical end-users,” he said. “We aren’t there just yet, but many ARM SoCs are (at least in theory) perfectly capable of running full desktop environments and software for these SoCs is getting better by the day.”

Just as the original Pinebook was a necessary step to stake out the market, the Pinebook Pro helps set the stage for an eventual maturity. For people that buy this, living through the growing pains is basically the fun part.

“When I see Raspberry Pi-shaped things or slightly bigger, or even smaller, I think to myself, ‘Well, we’re just where the PC was in 1985’—you know, way cheaper than the expensive stuff. People make fun of it, but it’s going to get better faster than the older technologies of stuff. People are going to try things out just to try them, and maybe they’ll succeed.”

— Ed Vielmetti , an employee of the cloud firm Packet and a former journalist, discussing the current shape of the market for ARM-based devices, which he has helped to evangelize through his role with Works on Arm, a collaboration between Packet and Arm that aims to make the case for ARM in data centers.

The interesting thing about the Pinebook Pro is not that it exists and works effectively, but that it paints an image of a future where ARM chips could genuinely prove a better use case on the go. The fact that these chips have found a home in our smartphones and connected devices makes one wonder about the long-term potential of a device that took those skills back to more traditional computing form factors.

The board at the center of the Pinebook Pro.

It would be a fascinating homecoming of sorts for a chipset that gained momentum in low-power use cases, but whose roots are actually in desktop computers produced by the British firm Acorn.

Certainly, there have been efforts to bring ARM to the laptop realm—most notably the Microsoft Surface Pro X, released last year, that featured impressive hardware, although reviewers were less impressed with the compromised software. Ed Vielmetti, a former journalist who has helped ARM’s reach in the data center through his employer Packet, has tried some of the Windows-based ARM machines, which he notes often have impressive battery life and connectivity compared to equivalent Intel devices.

But Vielmetti, who first gained a professional interest in ARM through exposure to the Raspberry Pi when working on a solar energy project, noted that in many ways, the play for the ARM chipset in more traditional computing form factors is in the long term—rather than right now.

“If it’s like this quarter, something has to be on for some of us this quarter, then you probably want to be, you know, parked very close to what your customers use,” he told me in an interview last summer. “But if you’re looking a little bit out or even further out, and you’re looking at the landscape of changes in the chip industry, and you want to target your software at the people who have the hardware that’s the best, then I think you have to be looking at ARM.”

And there has been growing interest in this specific proposition. Last year, for example, Linus Torvalds noted in an online discussion that there was a growing need for ARM developer boxes if ARM is to have a shot in the world of servers. “Without a development platform, ARM in the server space is never going to make it,” he noted. (The Pinebook Pro is a good start.)

And then there’s the general consumer level, which has seen some exposure to ARM-based laptops running Chrome OS. The wildcard, of course, is Apple, which has long been rumored to be working on an ARM-based Mac. Both Vielmetti and Erecinski noted it was well-positioned to push things forward.

“They have extensive experience with ARM from their phones and their kernel, and presumably also much of the stack already runs on the architecture,” Erecinski said. “Perhaps more importantly, Apple has very loyal customers who would buy an ARM laptop with little or no reservation.”

There are a lot of ways this could end up looking, and Pine64’s image of an ARM-based future may not be the one that wins in the market, although it makes an intriguing present. Another potential path forward involves a recent Kickstarter success story called the NexDock 2, which effectively is a laptop-like shell for ARM-based smartphones with built-in desktop support. It makes sense—after all, many Android phones are already more powerful than desktop computers.

Maybe the future of ARM computing looks like the Pinebook Pro; maybe it looks like the NexDock 2; maybe it even looks like whatever Apple is rumored to be working on. But we may be on the cusp of a future where a chipset famously used in smartphones starts appearing in more traditional computing forms—and the Pinebook Pro shows that the tinkerers are out front here.

Pine64, by building this device and others, is for now at the vanguard of ARM-based computing, but its goals are more modest than most. Speaking about its efforts to support a Linux-based phone ecosystem—another area where Pine64 is at the vanguard—Erecinski underlined the firm’s simple, open-source roots.

“We are not out to sell a million units, dethrone Android and iOS, or build a PINE64 empire,” Erecinski explained. “This project will never be a financial success because we make no money off it—we donate all revenue to our partner projects building the OSes. But that is besides the point.”

This $200 Laptop Is Like a Chromebook You Can Hack syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[designer-dad]

Peak Design Everyday Backpack - My history with EDC bags.

I have a problem.

I like bags. 

Like, a lot.

It’s more complicated than that though. I also hate bags.

A lot.

Ok, I’ll explain. As an Industrial Designer, I tend to pick apart products a lot. Especially ones that I purchase. Especially especially ones that I use A LOT. And even more so ones that I rely on for keeping part of my sanity. I define those items as ones that I use consistently and repetitively, in more or less the same way over and over. I am a creature of habit. Very strong, often unusual or quirky habit. Just ask my wife. And I need those specific items to fit/mold my habits in a way that is pleasing, smooth, and doesn’t mess with my mojo.

Enter my bag dilemma. 

I first remember having this issue around when I entered college and purchased my first car - a ‘92 fire-engine red Jeep Cherokee Limited. I needed a backpack at the time, and purchased some heavy duty Jeep branded backpack from their official site. It was my first considered bag purchase. The bag was a workhorse; strong, heavy duty, virtually un-breakable, waterproof, and pretty comfortable. And bright blue. It featured some basic front pocket organization, a slimmer front pocket for the little quick items, and otherwise was just a gaping hole of storage, with 2 equally massive side pockets. I loved this thing. Still do, but I also started to hate it, at least for my EDC bag. It was too big, could rarely fit under an airplane seat, and lacked main pocket organization (my biggest issue with bags in general; more on that later). I learned to appreciate it for what it was (a cavernous rugged backpack), and still use it for that purpose, but needed a new EDC bag.

Thanks to some Nissan test-drive promo, and the fact that they ran out of free watches, I got a random Kenneth Cole fabric messenger bag. I wasn’t super enthused at first, but this turned out to be a pretty great bag. And I found the general layout of a messenger bag to be preferable as an EDC, in that while the main opening can still be cavernous, the “landscape” orientation helped me dig through the crap to find what I wanted, and by nature opened up more so I could see inside. It also allowed me to swing it around and access said cavern without removing the bag. It also offered a simple but unique combination of organization pockets that just clicked with me.

But as college progressed, and technology with it, I needed to start carrying a laptop daily (and a behemoth one at that; stupid design school requirements), and this didn’t do the trick. So I did a stint with a Targus (yes, regrettable) giant 17″ widescreen messenger bag I found at Marshall’s that carried more like a briefcase, until my new in-laws bought me a fantastic upgrade: a Timbuk2 Outttawhack convertible bag. This thing was/is SO cool. Carries like a messenger, briefcase, or backpack with tuck-away backpack straps. Super unique, thought out, and still injects designer-endorphins into my brain when I use it. And it fit my beast of a laptop. 

But alas, as is the case with many 3-in-1 products, it’s a jack of all trades but master of none. It was neither comfortable as a backpack nor messenger. The backpack straps were on a kind of funky angle too. It lacked a water bottle pocket (apparently I found out how much I cared about this; I had to make a custom one). But the organization was pretty solid. Especially for a Timbuk2 bag (more on that next). But it did feature an issue I’ve found with Timbuk2 bags. They are designed for right-handed carry. I am a righty, but for some reason I do 2 things lefty; ride a skateboard and wear a messenger, the latter of which makes them annoying for me.

But I was kinda poor at the time, and still liked how cool this bag was, and it fit my massive laptop, so I trudged on for a couple years making do with this while part of my brain longed to go back to my trusty Kenneth Cole.

Graduation came, as did the start of my first design job, and I no longer needed to carry a laptop daily anymore, so back to the Kenneth Cole I went. And I was happy.

And on to my next design gig too. And the next one. The trusty Kenneth Cole went with me. And when the strap pad ripped, I bought a great Timbuk2 replacement pad. 

Enter another issue with my being a designer; boredom. Yes, this is often at odds with my being adverse to change and my strong habits. I know. It’s a problem. Add to that a desire to find a product a little better, and my eyes started to stray from trusty KC. 

Starting another design gig, I decided to “reward” myself with a new bag. I had a budget, around $100-$150, and at this point required something that could give my KC bag a run for its money, and conquer one issue I had never been able to resolve with my KC bag: travel.

While I loved my KC bag for EDC, it just did not cut it for travel. Messengers are uncomfortable to wear for long hauls of heavy loads (compared to backpacks), and it just didn’t have the gear space. Especially since I am always traveling with a basic staple of Orthodox Judaism: my Phylacteries and prayer shawl. These are used during morning prayers (which I often need to recite en route) and are pricey, so they stay in carry-on luggage. This parcel is about the size of an airplane pillow and blanket bundled together, and my travel bag needs to hold it in addition to regular travel basics (which always includes some degree of camera gear). 

I also simply hated the process of transferring everything from my EDC to travel bag and back again.

So I was now searching for a bag that could carry a bit more than what most people would need during travel, but would still not be too large as an EDC bag.

 After about a month of research, and ordering about 15 bags form Amazon to try (yay free returns), I landed on my Timbuk2 Command 2.0. This was a very good bag, and I used it mostly happily for close to 5 years for both EDC and most travel, but was never fully satisfied. It had a few very specific problems that got me eventually hunting for a new EDC bag during my next job transition (especially when I learned the new gig would require significant travel with a hefty laptop):

1) Organization. Timbuk2 generally uses the inside of the main compartment for pens and small organization. I hate this. I want this kept separate so pulling out a sweatshirt from the main pocket won’t send all my pens flying out on the floor of terminal B at O’Hare.

2) Made for a righty. The side access napoleon pocket, which I like in theory, is only easily accessible for right-handed carry style. Same with the water bottle pocket. It’s a small quirk, but awfully annoying when present numerous times every day for YEARS. 

3) Not quite the right size. This could handle some travel, but nothing major, nothing with a DSLR kit, and still hurt like any messenger with weight or time. And a big laptop was still not an option. The trusty Jeep bag was still my main travel buddy.

There was lots to like about this bag. Quality was solid, the color was bright red, TSA laptop pocket (for a medium laptop), extendable luggage handle pass-through, and some nice pockets, but overall fell short of what I needed.  

Add another layer of complexity to this tote conundrum: my DSLR.

I’ve mentioned this thing a few times already, and for good reason. It really messes with what kind of bag you can/want to carry. In most instances, it feels like you need to make a choice; camera first or carry first. Bags I’ve been through are either primarily camera focused, but can also carry ordinary stuff along with it, or it’s a regular bag, and you’re on your own for how to fit in camera gear.

Problem is, I like to bring my camera with me when I go places. But I’m also picky about my bag. These don’t marry well. My first route to address this was to bring a dedicated camera bag with me when I traveled. First mistake was this random bag I bought from Deviant Art when they phased out selling gear.

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

It’s a shoebox with camera storage inserts and a sling strap. It’s not comfortable. It’s not practical. NEXT.

For the next purchase, I did some digging, and put some thought into it. I got this Lowerpro sling bag, and was really happy with my purchase at first. It was smaller, understated, didn’t scream “camera here!”, and could carry some basic daily essentials along with my basic camera kit. But the killer here was the whole lefty-thing again. The bag is made strictly for right-handed style carry, and I could not get used to it. Add to that the annoyance of having to travel with an extra bag just for camera gear, and I outgrew this bag after just 2 trips.

I ultimately settled on the Timbuk2 Snoop Camera Insert and would try to fit this in whatever bag I traveled with. Yeah, not any easier than it sounds. 

So begins my search for my ultimate bag. I started a new job, with roughly monthly domestic travel, plus 1-2 international trips a year between work and personal, and I now needed to carry a semi-hefty laptop on occasion for either working remotely or traveling with. So I was looking for a bag that would satisfy all of the below:

1) Masterful Organization, especially in the main “big” pocket. Handful of writing instruments, mini Moleskin, battery backup, charging cables, multi-tools, knives, spork, water bottle, giant headphones, lunch, some occasional documents, some quick access pockets, and adaptability to also hold my laptop, more charging cables, reading material, and more robust pack of sketch tools, camera gear, and maybe more. Most importantly, give me some control of how I put stuff in that big main compartment. 

2) DSLR/Camera carry. I often travel with my DSLR. Not always, but often. And it can make choosing a bag for a trip very complicated. Will I be able to access the camera quickly? Will it be secure and protected? It also adds a level of complexity to my travel bag being the daily carry upon my arrival. On that note...

3) Travel buddy/EDC buddy. I want this bad to make the ultimate transition. Be my daily companion, and my travel hauler. Comfortable for the commute or a hike. And storage that can work and transform smoothly for both. Eliminate the need for another bag, and remove the extra hassle of transferring from bag to bag when traveling.

4) Backpack carry. I’d be taking the train for this job, which involves a couple miles of walking a day. Add that to the monthly trips through airports and messengers were out of the question here. But give me options to tote this thing with side handles and such.

5) Water bottle carry. Not wimpy either. I want this on both sides, and I want a pocket big enough to water a large man.

6) Laptop carry. My work laptop is known as a “mobile workstation.” It’s a 15″, but not like a 15″ Macbook. It’s a beast. It’s thick. It’s heavy. And it needs to fit in this bag.

7) Svelte, but spacious. I need a bag that looks good, and can be somewhat compacted when I don’t need it to be massive. I’m a big dude, so my frame can work with a larger bag, but I also don’t wanna knock out people standing around me on the train. On the other hand, if I need to load this with my DSLR kit, prayer accouterments, laptop, and travel goodies, I need this to haul it all, and still work as my daily carry when I get to where I’m going. 

6) Be awesome. At this point in my career, I like my accessories to be generally awesome, and be long-term. Unique. Great stories. Fantastic products. This bag will need to bring the cool factor up. And continue making me happy for years, so that I don’t have to go through this process again for a while.

So I embarked on what ended up being a 6 month discovery process of bags. Which I enjoyed. But which also stressed me out. And ultimately led me to my Peak Design Everyday Backpack 30L in Charcoal. To be continued...

[dizzedcom]

The Galaxy Note Ultra is a $1,399 smartphone. Even by Samsung’s standards, this is a high-end luxury device. It’s the phone for people who board the plane early and derive a sense of pride in watching the rest of us slowly shuffle onto the plane, wondering just how close to the back we’ll get.

Sure, most or all of these features will eventually trickle their way down into less-expensive models, but this is the phone for those willing to pay a premium to get a year ahead of the competition.

5G is the perfect example of the phenomenon. Still a luxury on last year’s models, it’s now standard across the Note line (and almost certainly will be with the Galaxy S when the new models arrive in six months). The world’s cellular networks may not have been ready to support it at the time, but it was yet another bleeding-edge tech available for early adopters willing to pay a premium.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 20 ships August 21, starting at $1,000

The truth of the matter is you’d be getting a nice phone whether you opt for the Note 20 or Note 20 Ultra — or, for that matter, any member of the S20 line. In spite of the $400 gulf, there are only a few key differences between the Note 20 and the Ultra. The first and most immediate difference is the screen. That’s how you know you’ve got a truly premium device. It’s really, really big.

Here that means the difference between a 6.7-inch (2,400×1,080) and 6.9-inch (3,088×1,440) display. It’s a far smaller difference than the gulf between the 6.2-inch and 6.9-inch S20 options. It’s ultimately to the detriment of the Note line that its largest screen size is the same as the S20, and that there’s relatively little size difference between the two Notes. I would say that the high-end is really starting to bump up against the ceiling on smartphone screens, but we’ve said that time and again, and yet here we are.

Image Credits: Veanne Cao

The primary factor that has facilitated the Note’s growth from what seemed like an impossible large 5.3 inches to 6.9 in its nine-year existence is Samsung’s commitment to reducing the handset’s screen-to-body ratio. Even so, the Ultra is a very large phone. I can’t wrap my hand fully around it. Honestly, depending on the size of your hands and/or pockets, the sheer size of the product could well be a deal breaker.

The upshot of having such a big phone is that you get more space for a battery. Here that means a 4,500mAh battery life to the 20’s 4,000. That’s good, but still significantly smaller than the S20 Ultra’s 5,000mAh, likely owing to the presence of the S Pen slot, which eats up a chunk of the internal footprint. I was able to make it more than 24 hours on a single charge (closer to 28), definitely hitting the company’s benchmark of “all day” life.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ review

Your results, as ever, will vary. But that goes double in a time when 5G coverage remains spotty in the U.S. Samsung sent a model with a Verizon SIM (TC’s parent company, for the record). I wasn’t able to get onto the 5G network in Queens where I live, but things did flick on when I walked across the bridge into Manhattan over the weekend. In a more ideal situation, I would be able to do a more controlled test between LTE and 5G battery ratings, but it’s 2020 and ideal is far too much to hope for.

Image Credits: Veanne Cao

The other major difference between the Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra is, of course, the camera. Once again, the camera module is massive. Samsung’s freshened up the industrial design a bit, but it’s frankly still pretty massive. That’s forgivable, however, when you factor in what the handset is packing here. Both new Notes sport a triple camera system, but the Ultra swaps the 12-megapixel wide lens for a 108-megapixel, joining the 12-megapixel ultra wide and 12-megapixel telephoto.

Image Credits: Brian Heater

The setup is similar to the S20 Ultra’s, with a few important distinctions. For starters, the time-of-flight depth camera has been swapped out for a laser autofocus. The TOF definitely feels like a more future-proofing aspect. In addition to current portrait mode demands, it will likely play an important role as augmented reality becomes an increasingly important aspect of mobile software, going forward. That said, laser autofocus just feels more pragmatic for the demands of everyday picture taking. And even without portrait mode enabled, the camera setup has a real and effective bokeh on images and is pretty effective with close-up macro photos.

Image Credits: Brian Heater

The other big update here are some tempered expectations on the Space Zoom front. Introduced for the S20 Ultra, the feature promised a mind-boggling 100x zoom. The truth of the matter was less exciting, as anything approaching that top number was ultimately unusable. Most shots ended up looking like a work of abstract impressionism. The Note Ultra keeps things to a still-impressive, but more manageable, 50x.

Image Credits: Brian Heater

You’re still risking some fairly serious image degradation at that number, but overall, the results are going to be more pleasing than going double that number. And overall, the zoom on this thing is really excellent. Using the default photo software, I’d recommend sticking to the three tree icons to switch between the three primary cameras. That will keep it at a maximum 10x optical zoom. But if you need a bit more than that, go for it.

Image Credits: Brian Heater

Samsung’s approach to camera quality has been largely hardware-focused, and the results are clear in the images it takes. It’s a contrast to Google’s approach, which seeks to almost exclusively differentiate itself with computational photography. The Pixel’s camera is very good in its own right, but it just can’t compete with the Note on things like quality zoom. Of course, Samsung’s approach costs money. It’s important to remember that we’re talking about a $1,400 phone here, friends.

The screen is really excellent. The colors can be a bit oversatured for my tastes — particularly when it comes to bright reds, but that’s an easy fix by toggling from “vivid” to “natural” under screen settings. For some the reds might be a bit muddy under the latter setting. Either way, it’s really just a matter of personal preference, but I recommend playing around with it. The 120Hz refresh rate makes for some extremely fluid animations, but this is also one of those features you can easily disable when you need to conserve battery.

The directional mic was one of the more underrated features introduced on the S20, allowing you to determine the focus of the audio recording based on the device’s positioning. Cooler still is the ability to use the Galaxy Live Buds as mics while recording. That’s something that will come in handy for standup interview videos, particularly in noisy environments.

Image Credits: Veanne Cao

The Note 20 is among the first devices to sport the Snapdragon 865+ — essentially an overclocked version of the flagship 865 you’ll find on the S20. The clock speeds are a bit souped up here and graphic performance has been improved by about 10%. Mobile processors don’t really get better than this in 2020. I plan to post something a bit more complete on the Microsoft partnership that brings some exclusive Game Pass content to handset (honestly, I’m waiting on one of those Bluetooth mobile Xbox controllers at the moment).

Samsung’s Galaxy S20 Ultra is a lot of phone for a lot of money

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p class=”p1″>But this thing sings for most of your everyday tasks, and will likely be one of the better handsets for cloud gaming, as the latest flagship Snapdragon has been paired with 12GB of RAM. There’s also a good 128GB of storage here, expandable to a very good 512GB. Better still, that can be expanded to a ridiculous 1TB courtesy of the microSD slot (also available on both S20 models, but absent in the regular Note).

I probably write this every time a new Note comes out, but I’m not really a stylus person, even after nearly a decade of playing around with Note devices. That said, I continue to be impressed with the device’s ability to recognize my truly terrible handwriting. Maybe I’ll be a convert one of these generations. Stranger things have happened I guess. The S Pen is quite refined and very responsive after all of these generations. Air Actions let you use the stylus as a control even at a distance — a neat enough feature, but once again one I don’t see myself using. Other cool new additions here include Audio Bookmark, which will sync recordings to the notes you’re taking. Definitely helpful, though I anticipate it will be more so when Samsung introduces live transcriptions à la Google Recorder one of these generations.

Image Credits: Veanne Cao

If you’ve read enough of these bi-annual Samsung flagship reviews, you probably know what’s coming next. The Note represents more of a refinement over its predecessor than something more substantial. If your Note is a year or two old, you certainly don’t need to run out to replace that also very-good phone. That’s just sort of where we’re at in the life cycle of the mobile industry. On the whole, updates just feel more incremental.

But as with each of these devices, the Note 20 Ultra represents some of the finest mobile hardware you can purchase at this point in time. The camera, especially, deserves to be called out for its truly excellent capabilities. But, as ever, the finest is going to cost you. If you can stomach the idea of a $1,400 Android phone, they don’t come much better than the Galaxy Note Ultra.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra review The Galaxy Note Ultra is a $1,399 smartphone. Even by Samsung’s standards, this is a high-end luxury device.

[grassroutes]

Doogee S95 Pro Modular Rugged Phone (and Giveaway!)

Our verdict of the Doogee S95 Pro: A hardy, ruggedized phablet-like phone that is too big to hold and let down by bulky modules with an unreliable magnet-guided connection. With high performance and suitable for hardcore mobile gaming, this is not a phone for everyday use, which may put you off.810

How often do you buy a phone and find it’s missing a feature? Perhaps the battery life isn’t quite enough… maybe it’s too easy to break the display.

With a solution to both issues comes the Doogee S95 Pro, available for around $300. A smartphone with a rugged design and Gorilla glass, it boasts top-end performance, external battery pack, and speaker modules. But is the Doogee S95 Pro a workable alternative to delicate, low-battery smartphones, or just a bit of a faff?

Unboxing the Doogee S95 Pro

Shipping in a smart black box with a magnetic lid and electric blue typeface, the packaging conveys a strong message. The inference is that you’re about to open the box on a good quality piece of kit.

Opening the Doogee S95 Pro, you’ll find… another box. This is the home of the S95 Pro phone, comfortably packaged alongside a USB Type-C data/power cable and USB adaptor.

The larger box, meanwhile, has space for the modules. With the Doogee S95 Pro, you get two modular add-ons: a battery pack, and a speaker. These are designed to attach to the rear of the phone; as such, they are slightly curved for a close fit.

The Rugged Doogee S95 Chassis

As a rugged smartphone, the Doogee S95’s chassis should be of particular interest. While as big as a Samsung Galaxy S10, the S95 has extra bulk to protect from drops. The extra protection results in a device 13.8mm thick. Meanwhile, it weighs a hefty 285g, although some of this can be attributed to the internal battery.

Despite the weight, the S95 is Doogee’s thinnest and lightest rugged phone. We’ve tested our review device in several “dropping scenarios”, banging it against walls, concrete floors, asphalt, and natural walkways in the countryside.

It��s come away with minor grazes to the rubberized exterior, and minimal (if any) scratching. The Doogee S95 comes with Gorilla Glass along with a pre-applied screen protector. This is a phone that is almost certainly ready for anything.

You probably wouldn’t want to be on the end of it, either. It’s a heavy-duty device that might prove useful for self-defense. Similarly, the S95 is hardy enough to smash a window.

It’s not all about how tough the phone is. The Doogee S95 is also waterproof, to the IP68 standard. This means the phone is waterproof to a depth of three meters, for up to four hours. It’s unlikely the phone will end up under such duress away from a river or the sea, of course. But you’ve got the reassurance that it might survive loss from height or in water for a few hours until it can be retrieved

Doogee S95 Specifications and Pricing

A dual-SIM 4G phone with a 6.3″ 1080p IPS LCD display (18:9 aspect ratio), the Doogee S95 Pro measures 6.6 x 3.1 x 0.66 inches (168 x 79.3 x 16.8mm).

Inside, the phone features a powerful Helio P90 octa-core A75 2.2GHz chip, with 8GB of UFS high-speed Samsung flash RAM. This will prove especially useful for mobile gaming, with faster performance and loading times. Meanwhile, 128GB of expandable storage is included, and the unit is powered by a 5150mAh battery.

Capable of holding 30-48 hours charge, this is the on-board power—the battery pack modular is slightly smaller (see below). There’s also support for 10W wireless charging, compatible with most wireless charge mats. Both charge methods are Quick Charge capable.

A 16MP front-facing camera is mounted in the notch, while the back camera combines a 48MP Sony IMX582 camera with an ultra-wide 117-degree 8MP camera, 8MP depth sensor, and a half-inch light sensor. These sensors are arranged in a two-by-two array on the back of the phone. They aim to deliver 10x zoom and macro shots at a 40mm distance.

With wireless charging, a thumbprint reader, and facial recognition, this is a feature-packed phone, running Android 9.0.

Two Modular Add-ons

Doogee has been producing modular phones since 2019 following a successful Kickstarter campaign. Our review of the preceding model, the Doogee S90, reveals a phone with four bundled modules.

For the S95, however, just two are included: a battery pack, and a 6W speaker with a built-in kickstand.

Battery Pack

The 3500mAh module battery is smaller than the internal 5150mAh battery but offers a welcome boost to power. Along with bring additional power to the table when the S95 runs low, the battery module recharges the main battery.

This is clearly an advantage. While you might prefer to use the battery module during periods of expected low usage, this isn’t necessary. The battery module fits the phone perfectly; while it might be bulkier with the battery attached, it’s perfectly usable.

Speaker and Stand

Also bundled with the S95 Pro is a 6W speaker module, with dual 27mm speakers. Like the battery pack, this snaps to the back of the phone. Sound quality is good—certainly better than expected—although you may prefer to keep your phone face down for music.

Thanks to a built-in stand, located between the two speakers, the module converts the S95 into a video entertainment center. Load up a movie, attach the speaker module, prop up the phone with the stand, and enjoy.

Compared with the built-in speaker, the speaker module sounds superb. I tried it out with a movie and the result was great. Meanwhile, playing a podcast in the bathroom was like having the hosts in there with me!

How Do the Modules Connect?

By now you’ve probably gathered that data and power is transferred between the S95 and its modules via the array of pogo pins. But how do the modules stay attached to the phone?

This is thanks to magnets situated inside the body of the phone and modules. These ensure the module stays attached to the phone, as well as securing the two devices around the pogo pins.

That’s the idea, at least. However, it doesn’t always work out that way. Our initial review model shipped with a weak or inverted magnet in the area of the pogo targets. This resulted in the modules not attaching to the most vital point of the phone.

Not ideal. Happily, Doogee were swift to issue a replacement device.

There is one other thing to note about the modules. Without either module connected, the rear of the Doogee S95 is a little ugly. The pogo targets are unsightly, while the “rugged” design is a little harsh.

How Good Is the Camera?

As noted earlier in the review, the Doogee S95 Pro features a 48MP camera with 10x zoom capability. It’s also designed to handle closeup work, with macro support to 40mm. These camera features can result in stunning photos, although the software plays a major part in this.

Overall, the camera is good, although the 10x zoom seems to rely heavily on the software. There’s a slightly unnatural feel to the results, with features you might normally see clearly smoothed out to produce a convincing zoom effect. The snap below was taken from around 10 meters—you can see how it has a slightly “artistic” effect.

Macro mode fares better, however, with some stunning closeup results at 40mm.

The camera also features a night mode and wide angle photography.

Doogee S95 Performance

It’s fast, it plays games and media well, and the display is impressive. The Doogee S95 phone is a nice piece of kit, and ranks 52nd following benchmarking on Antutu.

Battery life for standard use is good too… but it’s not perfect. A phone like this, that relies the existence of modular add-ons, must be judged on them as well. So, while performance is beyond what you might expect from such a rugged, hardy phone, the modules let it down.

They make the phone difficult to hold; the speaker isn’t 100% reliable. The less said about the earbuds, the better—after 30 minutes of trying to get them to connect to the phone and each other, I gave up.

Further, it’s important to take the time to give your Doogee S95 a thorough clean after outdoor pursuits. Our test device found its way into a pond. Although protected from mud and water ingress, those tight little doors are not perfect. Plenty of dirt accumulated around all three, as well as the edges of the rubberized bezel.

Using the Doogee S95 Pro as Your Daily Driver

Having spent a week with the Doogee S95 as my main phone, there is little to complain about. The biggest issue was with the launcher. While it ships with Android 9.0, there’s a version of Launcher 3 installed that doesn’t list apps in the app drawer. Instead, they’re listed in subsequent home screens, iOS-style.

Switching launchers solves this with ease. With all the usual Android apps installed (thanks Google Play!), the S95 substituted my usual phone with ease.

But it is a big phone. It’s not easy to quickly slip it into your pocket or handbag. There’s an instant weight issue, which makes me wonder of the phone and its modules are more suited to travel. After all, enhanced audio and an easily attached battery pack sound ideal for trips to the country or island beach.

Do You Need the Doogee S95 Pro?

No, you don’t. It’s a thick, heavy, rugged phone in an age of foldable lightweight hardware. There is absolutely no scenario in which anyone could possibly need a phone that doesn’t shatter on the slightest impact, or can survive a drop in the sea (or a toilet). In case you can’t tell, that was sarcasm.

So, now you’ve decided that you do need the Doogee S95, when are you going to use it? That’s the thing, you see. It’s simply not a daily driver, it’s too big. If you’re happy with a little smartphone that you can quickly get out to make calls, this isn’t a replacement.

On the other hand, if you’re a construction worker, extreme sports enthusiast, or regular traveler to national parks and island resorts, then maybe the Doogee S95 Pro is for you. You’ve got the speaker module for a bit of quality evening entertainment, the battery for extended photo and video use, and a ruggedized phone that’ll take a beating during your adventures.

Enter the Competition!

Doogee S95 Pro Giveaway

Read the full article: Doogee S95 Pro Modular Rugged Phone (and Giveaway!)

Doogee S95 Pro Modular Rugged Phone (and Giveaway!) posted first on grassroutespage.blogspot.com

[optforrvliving-blog]

Good and bad effects of RV Living

Before getting into our Airstream, we had no idea what to expect. The only things we knew about RVing was from TV or the movies. Needless to say, as excited as we were about the adventures we’d go on, we were extremely nervous to find out whether we could handle life on the road. It’s easy to romanticize what it’s like to RV or travel full time, but sometimes the reality is far less glamorous.

Dumping Your Poop

This was the thing we dreaded the most. Yes, everybody poops, but I like that in a regular toilet it can disappear, and you never have to see it again. In an RV, you poop and then the RV poops. Before our very first black dump, we would try our best to use the bathroom anywhere else but in our Airstream. Turns out, unless something goes horribly wrong, it’s a painless process (here’s Jacob’s no-poop-on-me-dance!). You never actually make contact with your poop, and the chemical you put in the toilet turns everything into an unidentifiable green liquid. rv bathroom accessories https://www.rvlivingusa.com/rv-bathroom-accessories-you-shouldnt-do-without/

Limited Space

This challenged how minimal we could live. Sure, we practiced living minimally in our home and then when we started moving into smaller and smaller apartments, but this took it to the next level. The closet could only hold so many clothes and the fridge could only hold so many groceries (or in my case, diet cokes). Ultimately, it was nice to see that we could make it work. Now, we’re going through another huge purge after seeing what we could live without for 3 months.

Needing Separate Quarters

The even bigger challenge was not getting constantly pissed off at each other. Since we work together, play together, and live together, there aren’t many days (or even minutes in a day) that we spend apart. It might seem nice getting to spend 24/7 with your spouse, but if you do, you’ll soon realize that alone time can be so precious! In San Diego, we had a pretty sweet setup with our giant monitors back to back, so that during work hours we couldn’t see each other. In the Airstream, we couldn’t quite figure out a good system, which led to lots of fights over lots of stupid little things.

Why Do the Cats Poop So Much?!

I’m sure they are probably going a normal amount, but in a smaller space, we notice everything they do! We felt like we were constantly cleaning up after them. It’s a good thing we like them. ;) If you have cats, here are some tips on easing them into RV life.

Cooking with Fewer Ingredients

We met a few full-timers who still cooked extravagant meals, but most people we met had to simplify their meals. We did a lot of one pot meals. They were easier to cook and required less ingredients. Eating easier meals also meant we were eating a lot of carbs when we cooked though. Alternatively, we loved having Soylent as a meal replacement on our busy days, especially when we’re driving to a new state or when we’re out all day hiking. I think

having the Soylents evened out our bad eating habits and kept us at a decent health. Next time we go out on the road, we need to practice making more easy, healthy meals. storage ideas for rv closets https://www.rvlivingusa.com/20-storage-ideas-for-rv-closets-with-pictures/

Always Changing Community

Living on the road means you get to meet a lot of interesting people! We had great conversations, shared meals and campfires, and heard so many amazing stories. We always thought we were on the adventurous side, but we were surprised to find so many people who were far more adventurous (and might I add, much older). That gives us hope knowing that age ain’t nothing but a number. On the other hand, because we were meeting so many new people, we also ran into a handful of people who were not so pleasant. Luckily, our encounters with people were mostly positive, and it was fun seeing our Airstream friends again down the road. Even with the Airstream or RV community, though, we still missed having a stable community of friends. You can potentially find people to caravan with, but that was a rare case from what we saw.

Internet Speeds

This was easily the most painful adjustment for us since we were working from the road and handling large photo and video files. Our last home in San Diego had on average 40-50 Mbps for internet speed. Now that we look back, it’s funny that we sometimes complained about that. On the road, we were seeing a lot of 0-3 Mbps from RV parks that claimed they had internet, which had us even missing the dial up days. One of Jacob’s videos took 18 hours to upload. We started getting excited when we could find consistent speeds over 4 Mbps, which is really sad since internet in the real world starts at 5! On our last month, we finally got another hotspot, which made working a little easier but nothing compared to what we had when we were grounded. rv lighting ideas https://www.rvlivingusa.com/15-rv-lighting-ideas-for-a-more-homey-rig/

Function AND Form

Since our home was now on wheels, we couldn’t just buy things that were pretty, we had to make sure they could be packed away easily and weren’t breakable. Say goodbye to your fine china.

Flexibility

As much as you want to plan your trip, a lot can happen on the road. You have to learn to be flexible and roll with the punches. There were many places where we went mid-June and July that we had no idea was still snowed in. On the flip side, if the weather is bad, you can always move to another place and you may find new places you completely fall in love with!

Size Restrictions and Mobility

Now that we were in a big Ford F150 and Airstream, we weren’t as mobile as we were with a regular sedan. Even our Ford F150 with the hitch could not park in a single parking spot. You can forget about drive-throughs and narrow roads in a city. You also need to watch out for signs that say no trailers, trucks, etc, because sometimes those signs come out of nowhere when you’re driving (GPS doesn’t exactly exclude those roads for you). If we wanted to stop, we had to look for larger parking spots, and you definitely didn’t want to get stuck down a small road with no space to turn around.

One day we were thinking about dropping off a trailer near our friend’s place in LA, but then realized that if someone parks in front of you, you can’t hitch it back and leave. So many things we had to think about that we’d never experienced before. It was an adjustment on how you drive and where you can stop, but luckily our size trailer still allowed us to camp at National Parks and it didn’t hold us back too much. It just requires a little more patience.

Shorter Showers and Working in the Dark

There are two kinds of camping in an RV. The first is full hookups where you can plug into electric, water, and sewage. The other is dry camping, or boondocking, where you rely on the tanks and batteries you have on board. During our trip, we never learned to be efficient boondockers. We tried to charge our laptops in the truck and work on them in the dark, but between our camera gear and everything else that needed to be charged up, we were constantly running out of juice. 90% of the time, we camped in RV parks with full hookups, but even then, you have a much smaller water heater than a house or apartment, so you can’t take long hot showers. I know it’s good to conserve water, but some days when you’re sticky because you were out hiking all day, you just want a shower that lasts longer than 10 minutes. Now, we were far from roughing it and we still had all the comforts from home that we needed, but it was just in smaller quantities. rv toothbrush holder https://www.rvlivingusa.com/best-wall-mounted-toothbrush-holder-for-rv-bathroom-that-never-fails-to-impress/

All in all, this was a great test on whether RV life was for us, and we are happy to report that despite the challenges, we loved the overall experience. We’re hoping to get one of our own in the future. P.S. if you’re thinking about getting a trailer and in the market to buy a new car, don’t forget to look at tow capacities! We never imagined ourselves as truck drivers before.

When we decide to stop moving to a new city every year, we love the idea of having a home base for half the year and exploring the US the other half. Then again, who knows what life will bring!

[kratikaparasherbhopal-blog]

Best camera phones in market(below 15000)

Mi note 7 pro The Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro is a mid-range budget smartphone. The phone has good performance well. The smartphone comes with a huge storage space for storing large amount of data or files. It is very good for clicking good images and videos. But the phone comes with a hybrid slot, which is not preferred by many users. The phone offers a truly immersive and enriched smartphone experience. Powered by a 2.0 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 processor and a dual (48 MP + 5 MP) rear camera the phone has everything you need. It also has Face Unlock feature which makes unlocking the phone a piece of cake, and provides additional security. Design The Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro has a 6.3-inch full HD bezel-less display with a stylish waterdrop notch and 1,080 x 2,340 pixels resolution. It has a pixel density of 409 PPI for a good viewing experience and comes with Corning Gorilla glass 5 protection against scratches and marks. It comes with an Aura Design, which provides an immersive experience to the users. It is available in stylish Space Black, Nebula Red and Neptune Blue colours. It comes with P2i Nano-coating that repels accidental liquid spills and light rain. A custom rubberized material keeps any liquid from seeping in. Camera The Redmi Note 7 Pro has a dual 48MP + 5MP rear camera set up with Exmor-RS CMOS Sensor lenses along with a LED flash. It can click HD pictures and record videos. The phone has a 13MP front camera for clicking excellent selfies and making video calls. Performance The Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro is powered by an octa-core (2GHz dual-core Kryo 460 + 1.7GHz hexa-core Kryo 460) processor with Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 chipset. It has 4GB of RAM, which helps the device for multitasking and Adreno 612 GPU which can easily handle most games, and offers an immersive experience to users. Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro offers 4G connectivity, Wi-Fi, Mobile Hotspot, Bluetooth v5.0, A-GPS and USB type-c connectivity. Battery and Storage The device comes with a mammoth 4,000mAh Li-Po battery with Qualcomm’s quick charge technology. The phone is a good option for heavy users since it does not require to be charged frequently. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro comes with 64GB internal memory expandable up to 256GB with a memory card slot, that provides enough space for all your music, videos, etc. Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro price is approx. Rs 13,999 in India. VIVO Z1 PRO Vivo is one of India's biggest and most visible smartphone brands, with a massive offline presence across the country. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of the flash sales and price wars that many brands engage in online, and now Vivo wants to get in on that action with its first “online focused” device, the new Vivo Z1 Pro, which will be sold on Flipkart. The company is targeting millennial and Gen Z buyers who want good-looking phones with all the latest capabilities, and the Vivo Z1 Pro specifically promises great cameras, battery life, and processing power for games. It definitely looks as though Vivo studied all the current market trends when designing the Z1 Pro, and on paper at least, it's definitely trying to give Xiaomi, Realme, and Samsung a run for their money. We've got the brand new Vivo Z1 Pro in for review, and we're going to see if the features and specifications it boasts of will be enough to earn it a spot on our next list of recommended phones in the sub-Rs. 20,000 space. Vivo Z1 Pro design The first thing you'll notice about the front of the Vivo Z1 Pro is its oversized screen with a hole in the upper left corner for the front camera. This seems to be the next big trend after screen notches of various sizes, and Vivo is right on the ball. MI NOTE 7S Xiaomi Redmi Note 7S is a budget offering and comes with a splash proof body which is one of the best reasons to buy the phone. The phone allows you to click studio-ready pictures and has an elegant design which deserves a lot of praise. The phone has a hybrid slot which may be a drawback for some users. Xiaomi Redmi Note 7S was is launched in India for starting price of Rs 10,999. Xiaomi India has confirmed the Redmi Note 7S will replace the Redmi Note 7 in India. The phone is available on ecommerce retailers Flipkart, Mi.com, Mi Home stores and Mi Preferred partners. Design The phone has 6.3-inch LCD display, dot drop notch, with 1040 x 1080 pixels resolution. It has slim bezels and comes with Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5 for added protection. The phone has an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. The phone has Dual Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5 used on the front and back which makes it 4 times stronger than its predecessor. It comes with reinforced edges which makes it even stronger. The phone has a 3.5mm headphone jack and a Type-C port. The device has a beautiful Dot Notch Display and an impressive screen-to-body ratio which maximizes the users viewing experience. The striking Aura Design with dual Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5 allows the phone to handle bumps. Camera The Redmi Note 7S comes with revolutionary 48MP + 5MP dual rear camera which is a delight for photography enthusiast. The AI Dual rear camera captures sharp clear images in any situation. The front 13MP camera clicks sharp and bright selfie pictures even in dim light condition. Processor Powered by Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 660 AIE the phone can reach remarkable processing speeds of up to 2.2GHz. it makes Gameplay fast and furious and would delight gamers. Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 660 AIE offers an excellent gaming experience, and allows you to enjoy lag free operation. With Adreno 512 and a 3GB RAM, the phone can handle most tasks with ease. Battery and Storage The phone is powered by a mammoth 4000 mAh battery with Qualcomm Quick Charge™ 4 which allows for long hours of uninterrupted gaming. The phone has 32 GB of internal storage expandable up to 256GB via a microSD card slot that can store all your files, data, apps, games, movies and pictures. Connectivity options included in the phone are VoLTE support, a hybrid slot, Wi-Fi, Mobile Hotspot, Bluetooth, GPS, USB Type-C, etc. Oppo K1 Brief Description Oppo K1 was launched in February 2019 & runs on Android 8.1 OS. The Smartphone is available in two color options i.e. Blue, Red & has a built in fingerprint sensor as the primary security feature, along with the host of connectivity options in terms of 3G, 4G, GPS, Wifi Bluetooth capabilities. Priced at Rs. 14990 the phone is available with 64 GB of internal storage. The Smartphone is powered by 2.0 Octa core Qualcomm SDM660 Snapdragon 660 Processor. A 4 GB of RAM & Adreno 512 graphics processor ensures phone runs smoothly even the most memory intensive applications & still shows no signs of lag. 64 GB of internal storage can be expanded to 256 GB via a microSD card. The Phone comes with a large 3500 mAh battery to support it's 6.4 inch screen with Super AMOLED display having a resolution of 1080 X 2340 at 402 ppi. The screen is also protected by a durable Scratch Resistant glass. Oppo K1 boasts of dual primary camera of 16 + 2 megapixel and 25 megapixel front Camera. It also supports Face Detection and high dynamic range(HDR) imaging. Check out the Best Price in India for the Oppo K1 at Rs. 14990 available at flipkart SAMSUNG M30 The Samsung Galaxy M30 is a mid-budget smartphone which comes with some mazing features and an impressive display. The phone has a triple rear camera system and comes with a rear fingerprint sensor for enhanced security. The phone has a decent battery life, and is available in Gradation Black and Gradation Blue options. Display The Samsung Galaxy M30 has a mesmerizing 6.4-inch bezel-less Super AMOLED display with 2,280 x 1,080 pixels resolution and a pixel density of 394 PPI. The phone has an elegant design with a waterdrop notch, that increases the screen space usage. It is available in black and blue colours. The phone has a beautiful and elegant feel. Camera As for optics, it has a triple 13MP + 5MP + 5MP rear cameras at the back, that take excellent wide-angle snapshot of monuments and portraits. The cameras capture amazing detail and give depth to pictures. The rear camera setup is accompanied by an LED flash, Autofocus, Face detection, etc. which help it to give a nice photography experience. The Galaxy M30 has a 16MP front-facing lens which clicks amazing and brightest selfies even in low / dim light condition. The phone has a digital zooming technology which ensures even the smallest details are visible. The Samsung Galaxy M30 has an excellent camera for a phone in this price segment. Processor The Samsung Galaxy M30 is powered by an octa-core 1.8GHz Exynos 7904 chipset. It is paired with 4GB RAM that renders smooth and enhances overall performances and can handle most tasks with ease. Mali-G71 MP2 GPU ensues excellent graphics. Connectivity options included in the phone, comes with a Nano SIM. Connectivity options included 3G, 4G-VoLTE, Bluetooth, WIFI, GPS, Glonass, USB Type-C, and Mobile Hotspot. It has an integrated rear fingerprint sensor and comes with other sensors like Light sensor, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, Compass, and Gyroscope. It offers an excellent browsing experience with no lag. Storage and Battery The smartphone has a 5000 mAh Li-ion battery which is sufficient to keep the device active for long hours. The phone comes with fast charging capabilities and provides talk time up to 31 Hours(2G) according to company claims. The phone houses internal storage of 64GB, which gives ample space for all your files, videos, music, etc. The phone has an expandable memory option up to 1 TB via an external microSD card slot. Samsung Galaxy M30 is priced at Rs 14,990 in India. Samsung Galaxy M30 (Samsung Galaxy A40s) was launched in February 2019 & runs on Android 8.1 OS. The Smartphone is available in two color options i.e. Gradation Black, Gradation Blue & has a built in fingerprint sensor as the primary security feature, along with the host of connectivity options in terms of 3G, 4G, GPS, Wifi Bluetooth capabilities. Priced at Rs. 14990 the phone is available with 64 GB of internal storage. The Smartphone is powered by 1.8 GHz Octa core Exynos 7904 Processor. A 4GB of RAM ensures phone runs smoothly even the most memory intensive applications & still shows no signs of lag. 64 GB of internal storage can be expanded to 512GB via a microSD card. The Phone comes with a powerful 5000 mAh battery to support it's 6.4 inch screen with Super AMOLED display having a resolution of 1080 X 2280 at 394 ppi. Samsung Galaxy M30 (Samsung Galaxy A40s) boasts of dual primary camera of 13 + 5 + 5 megapixel and 16 megapixel front Camera. It also supports Face Detection and high dynamic range(HDR) imaging. Check out the Best Price in India for the Samsung Galaxy M30 at Rs. 14990 available at amazon

[shirlleycoyle]

The $149 Smartphone That Could Bring The Linux Mobile Ecosystem to Life

A version of this post originally appeared on Tedium, a twice-weekly newsletter that hunts for the end of the long tail.

If you kept a close eye on the Apple vs. Epic Games trial, you might be wondering: How the hell did we get to this point, where a phone maker that simultaneously supports the daily needs of hundreds of millions of users could have so much literal say over how its ecosystem operates?

When faced with such questions, reactions can vary—many people will grumble and complain, while others will look for other options. Problem is, operating system options have infamously been difficult to find in the smartphone space—hope you like Android or iOS, because those are your options.

On the other hand, what if I were to tell you that there’s a phone where you could have nearly every other attempt at a smartphone OS at your fingertips, one microSD card away, and you could test them at will?

It sounds strange, but it’s something Pine64’s entry into the smartphone space, the Linux-driven PinePhone, is built for.

Would you want to use it? I spent a few weeks with one recently, and here’s what I learned.

The key to understanding the value proposition of the PinePhone is understanding the difference between workable and cutting-edge

Given the hype around the PinePhone over the past year (which, for purposes of this review, I’ll point out I purchased with my own money), it might seem like we’re talking about a top-of-the-line OLED-based device that has fancy features like notches, hole punches, or 120Hz displays.

But the reason for the attention comes down to the point that, unlike most phones that might support some form of Linux because that support has been hacked in, the Linux on the PinePhone takes center stage. This is a workable phone for which neither Android nor iOS is the primary selling point. You can take phone calls on this; it will work.

Now, to be clear, there’s a difference between workable and cutting-edge. Unlike the Pinebook Pro, which offered relatively up-to-date hardware (such as the ability to add an NVMe drive) even if the chip itself was a bit pokey compared to, say, an M1, the PinePhone effectively is knowingly running outdated hardware out of the gate.

Its CPU, an Allwinner A64 with a Mali 400 MP2 GPU, first came out six years ago and is the same chip the original Pine64 single-board computer used. (It’s also older than the NXP i.MX 8M System-On-Module that the other primary Linux phone on the market, the Purism Librem 5, comes with—though to be fair, this phone sells for $149, less than a fifth of the price of the $800 Librem 5.)

Despite 802.11ac being in wide use for more than half a decade, the Wi-Fi tops out at 802.11n on the PinePhone—a bit frustrating, given that a lot of folks are probably not going to be throwing a SIM card into this and are going to be futzing around with it on Wi-Fi alone.

Is this the perfect phone for cheapskates? Well, to offer a point of comparison: The Teracube 2e, a sustainable low-end Android device that I reviewed a few months ago whose sub-$200 price point is very similar to that of the PinePhone, runs circles around this thing (and isn’t that far off from the Librem 5) on a pure spec level, with better cameras, a somewhat better screen, and a fingerprint sensor for a roughly similar price point (and a four-year warranty, compared to the single month you get from Pine64). If you’re looking for a cheap phone rather than an adventure, stay away.

And the PinePhone can be fairly temperamental in my experience, chewing through battery life when idle and reporting inconsistent charge levels when in use, no matter what OS is loaded.

But that is still better than what the Linux community had previously—a whole bunch of moonshot aspirations, some of which have failed to ship and others of which exploded into interest years ago, only to burn out almost immediately.

The PinePhone gives those projects a home, a sustainable one that allows them to grow as open-source projects rather than die on the vine. The marquee names here—among them the open-source Ubuntu Mobile (maintained not by desktop Ubuntu maker Canonical, but by UBPorts), the partially closed Sailfish OS, and the webOS descendant LuneOS—each represent high-profile attempts to take on the hierarchy of iOS vs. Android that have faced irrelevance as the larger mobile giants crushed them. The PinePhone gives those projects a fresh lease on life by building excitement around them once again, while also giving noble old-smartphone revival projects like postmarketOS a new target audience.

And plus, let’s be clear: The Linux community thrives on extending the power of outdated hardware.

Like Linux on the desktop, which has helped keep machines alive literal decades past their traditional expiration date, the PinePhone keeps software projects alive that would have struggled to find a modern context.

You can’t replace the SIM card or the microSD card without removing the battery. Sorry. Image: Ernie Smith

Appreciating (and critiquing) the PinePhone on its own level

It’s one thing to discuss what this phone represents. It’s another to consider its usability.

And from a hardware standpoint, there are some quibbles and some useful features, many of which feel like they can be excused by the price point. The device, which can be pulled open relatively easy, has six hardware kill switches that can turn off major functions of the device like the cameras or the LTE antenna—a boon for the privacy-focused.

But it also has some arguable design flaws, most notably the fact that, to replace the microSD storage and the SIM card, you have to remove the back case and the battery, a bit of a miss on a device that basically encourages you to frequently flash new microSD cards as you flitter about between different operating systems as you try different programs (or if you’re a developer, test new versions of the operating system’s code).

The kill switches on the PinePhone, which can disable hardware functions as needed. Image: Ernie Smith

To some degree it makes sense—after all, you don’t want to pull out an SD card while you’re booted into an OS while on the SD card—but in practice, the extra steps proved frustrating to do over and over, and I don’t think the target audience for this would necessarily be unaware of the risks of removing an SD card while the device is loaded. (I will allow that there may be a privacy case to bury the SIM and microSD card in this way, but I don’t think it precludes an alternate approach.)

The battery, which I’ve noted is relatively inconsistent at charging at least for my device, is also a bit on the small side, at 3000mAh. To some degree, that’s fine—the processor is not exactly going to tax the battery life, but it would be nice if it was slightly bigger.

The one capability this has that takes it squarely into the modern era in a meaningful way is USB-C, and a variant of USB-C that allows for full-on video out. And that means you can add a dock to this phone, plug in an HDMI cable, and, conceivably, it will show something on your display. Unfortunately, the USB-C port slightly curves out of the back and because of the position of the port, doesn’t lie totally flat, so you may run into problems with cables falling out. Just a word of warning.

The edition of the device I have is the $199 “Convergence Edition,” which comes with a minimal USB-C dock. And that dock is, admittedly, a pretty nice dock, with two USB ports, an HDMI port, and an Ethernet jack (along with USB-C passthrough for power). I was able to get it working, but the issues with the port’s curvature on the phone meant that in practice, I had to be very careful about placement, because it was incredibly easy to knock it out.

I get that this is a constrained device and wiggle room for redesigns may be limited, but for future versions of the device, some repositioning of the USB-C port, or at least additional reinforcement to ensure cables don’t fall out so easily, could go a long way.

The launch screen for p-boot, a multi-distro demo image that allows users to take a gander at the numerous operating systems PinePhones support, from Mobian to sxmo. The image contains a surprising 17 distributions. One downside: It hasn’t been updated since last fall. Image: Ernie Smith

The best part of the PinePhone is seeing the progress of its many operating systems

As one does when they get a Pine64 device, I spent a while booting different operating systems to understand the different capabilities of the operating systems available.

Trying to critique one flavor of Linux over another is a bit dangerous as there are partisans all over the place—some of whom will not be happy, for example, if you speak out of turn about KDE Plasma—but with that in mind, of the operating systems ones I tried, the ones that feel closest to prime time to me are the UBPorts variant of Ubuntu Touch (which borrows the look of the desktop Ubuntu’s GNOME-based user interface) and Sailfish OS, the latter of which maintains enough commercial support from governmental and corporate customers that it’s still being regularly maintained.

Mobile variants of Linux based on KDE and GNOME—nothing against KDE, but I operate a GNOME household—seemed a bit poorly matched to the hardware to me, with the preinstalled KDE-based version of Manjaro, called Plasma Mobile, feeling sluggish upon boot, which is an unfortunate first impression to offer users. (Also not helping: depending on what SIM you put into the device and what version of the distro you’re using, you may have to dip into the command line to get it to work, which is not the case for other distros.) However, these interfaces are newer and more deserving of the benefit of the doubt—and just as with desktop Linux, the underlying OS can impact your experience with the interface. Case in point: The postmarketOS version of Plasma Mobile was a little faster than Manjaro, even if I didn’t find the interface itself naturally intuitive, with browser windows visible on the desktop when not in use. (Again, I’ll admit that some of these hangups are mine—I prefer GNOME, so I’m sure that colors my view.)

Phosh, a GNOME-derivative interface that utilizes the Wayland windowing system and is used heavily in the Librem 5, was a little more polished, which makes sense given the fact that Purism developed it as the basis of a smartphone. It’s nonetheless not to the level of polish of Android, but as with KDE Mobile, it’s still relatively young; it will get there. Ultimately, I just have to warn you that many of these operating systems come with learning curves of varying steepness, and the trail might be arduous depending on how polished they are.

One nice thing about the PinePhone is that it promises a second look at mobile operating systems that didn’t get much love the first time—and in that light, Ubuntu Touch is a bit of a revelation. Its interface clearly took some of the right lessons from its competitors, and likely inspired them. It is a very gesture-driven interface, and it was years before iOS and Android could say the same. And despite the older hardware, Ubuntu Touch feels fast, which can be tough to do on hardware of a certain vintage.

Sailfish OS, while being more actively maintained over the years, offers a similar second look and a similar level of polish, as only a handful of people have likely even used it.

The webOS based LuneOS suffers from the opposite problem—it feels more dated than mature, a result of webOS’ skeuomorphism, which LG has moved away from in the operating system’s TV variant. Its interface ideas were ahead of its time when it first came out more than a decade ago, but iOS and Android have stolen most of its tricks by this point. But if you liked that look from the days of the Palm Pre or HP TouchPad, you might feel at home.

  Perhaps one that is intriguing—even if, as an end user, you may not be raring to use it—is sxmo, a minimalist approach to mobile operating systems built around a simple, middle-of-the-screen navigation interface that is operated using the volume and power buttons. It is the most experimental thing I’ve seen in mobile operating systems in quite some time, in large part because of its strict adherence to the Unix philosophy of operating system ideals. You can text in a vim-style editor; you load up scripts to do basic things like get notifications. Clearly, it will not have a big audience, but the fact that it exists at all is exciting and evidence of the good that the PinePhone will do for the broader Linux community.

But the important thing to keep in mind is that these operating systems are all works in progress, and in many ways, the progress might actually be a little better on other devices. Example: Ubuntu Touch almost fully supports the Google Pixel 3a, a phone that’s about two years old, has better specs than the PinePhone (particularly in the camera department), and because it’s a first-party Google device, likely has a lot of options for accessories that the PinePhone may never see. (At least, not intentionally.) It can also be had for cheaper than a PinePhone based on where you get it—and the PinePhone has a ways to go to support the full feature-set of Ubuntu Touch.

And you can get a lot more by spending a little more: The OnePlus 6T, based on where you look, can be had for less than $250 used, and gets you a more mainline Snapdragon processor, as well as OLED and an in-touchscreen fingerprint sensor. While not at full support in, say, postmarketOS, it’s far enough along that it might actually get there. (Perhaps you want to help?)

But while individual phones may find quick support from individual operating systems, the PinePhone feels like it sets a larger ideological precedent. What the PinePhone represents is a very solid reference system for development of mobile operating systems, rather than something that’s a head-turner on its own. This is the platform mobile Linux devs are going to go to when they need to simply build out the base operating systems, as it has all the basics—from the ARM processor to the accelerometer to the GPS, even a headphone jack—that developers can test against. With just modest differences (some models have 2GB of RAM, some have 3GB) it allows developers of mobile operating systems to focus on getting the basics right, then worry about whether everything works in the hundreds of phone models out there.

There’s also the ethics of it all as well. Look around and you’ll likely see some passionate debates, for example, against using Sailfish OS on a PinePhone because of its closed-source user interface. These discussions also happen in the desktop Linux space; it’s almost refreshing to see them in mobile after years of two operating systems driving every argument.

Last year, in the midst of the pandemic, mega-podcaster Joe Rogan gave a relatively obscure YouTuber with a strong privacy focus a big amount of attention. During an interview with comedian and musician Reggie Watts, he brought up a video maker named Rob Braxman, who had a wide variety of videos that focused on the topic of privacy, particularly with mobile devices. Braxman literally calls himself “The Internet Privacy Guy.”

One day, Rogan subscribed to Braxman, and apparently spent hours watching his clips, which feature a lot of well-researched useful information, but can sometimes toe-dip into the conspiratorial—i.e., the kind of stuff you could imagine Rogan would love. Then Rogan talked about the YouTuber on an episode of his podcast, expressing curiosity about Braxman’s demeanor. What was this guy trying to hide?

Despite clearly being a fan of his privacy, Braxman clearly did not mind the privacy invasion from Rogan.

Braxman responded to Rogan, as one does, with a YouTube clip. He pointed out that he was a regular guy; he just cared a lot about privacy, with one underlying driving factor:

I’m an immigrant. When I was young, I lived in a country under martial law, where voicing an opinion can land you in jail, where powerful people control the many. So that made a mark on me. I never want to go back to that condition.

The pitch to all of those Rogan fans worked. Now Braxman has more than 250,000 YouTube subscribers, with a sudden surge in his viewership in the year since the Rogan shout-out. His most popular videos, many of which have hundreds of thousands of views, cover topics such as de-Googling phones, preventing phone-tracking, and the risks of big tech. Braxman has an online store where he sells “de-Googled” phones next to security consultations.

(As you might guess, he was early to the PinePhone, unboxing his more than a year ago.)

Braxman—who got my attention a couple of years ago thanks to his fairly avant-garde declining-melody theme music (yes, he’s a jazz musician, too), which is not something you often run into on YouTube—actually slipped off my radar for a while, only for me to look him up again a couple of months ago out of curiosity, finding that he had experienced a sudden surge in popularity. His channel was maybe a tenth the size that it is now when I first noticed him.

To me, the success of folks like Braxman hints that there is an audience for the PinePhone outside of even regular Linux users. It may not be a large one, or even well-defined right now. But it exists, and with the right level of community support, one could see at least one of the mobile operating systems on this device experiencing a breakthrough of success in the coming years. (Ubuntu Touch has the inside line, in my eyes.)

As for the device that is driving the discussion around mobile Linux, the PinePhone can be had for less than $200, which opens up lots of room for a developer community to build onto. Should you buy one? It depends on your risk tolerance. It’s not a top-of-the-line phone, and it takes time to learn how to fully appreciate it. You may have to dip into the command line, depending on the operating system you plan to use. (On the other hand, it’s nice that you’re allowed, or in the case of sxmo, you’re expecting to.) I hope, as the community around it evolves, the Pine64 team takes the time to tweak the hardware to better embrace this audience with some small, thoughtful hardware tweaks, including a less-finicky USB-C port and more thoughtful placement of the microSD and SIM card slots.

But even without those changes, this device could be enough to kickstart a Linux-driven mobile revolution.

The $149 Smartphone That Could Bring The Linux Mobile Ecosystem to Life syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[rusticexample1868]

Be Safe With These Good Home Security Tips

You need to keep your home safe, whether you rent or you own. Do you know how to secure your residence? Go over this article for more information on home security. Any time you buy a new home, have the locks changed. This is because you really have no idea who has keys, and therefore access to your home. Have a locksmith install a brand new lock. When you lose your keys, have your locks rekeyed. Home security systems aren't just about sounding alarms. They often even alert you to any time a door is opened. For families with young children, this is excellent for alerting when a child has entered or left the house. When you're going away, turn off your phone ringers. A constantly ringing phone can signal to a burglar that the house is vacant, making it an easy target for their criminal activities. If you've got a garage, make sure to use it for your car rather than extra storage space. This will keep thieves from stealing it or harming it. Hiding the car from plain sight can keep possible intruders from figuring out when you're home and also when you are not. Changing the locks is a fundamental part of adding security to the home. It might be that you have an angry ex-roommate or a bitter ex-partner, so changed locks will boost your security. This is a very easy process that you can complete within a day. If your home security system is installed, be sure its wires are well-hidden. A burglar can easily cut and disconnect wires that are left visible. Make it hard for intruders and bury the wires or hide them inside your walls, if possible. This will add security. Be sure to replace all of the old locks as soon as you move into a new domicile. The old owners may seem nice, but you don't know everything about them. Besides, other tenants or owners might have copies of the key if the previous owners did not change the locks. Buy flashlights with strong batteries and make sure there is one in each room in case of power outages. Having a well-charged flashlight on hand is very beneficial in case of emergency. Make sure everyone in your family knows where the flashlights are. Be sure your home is well lit on the outside. It will be easier for intruders to keep an eye on you and approach your home if they can hide in the dark. Install a light in any area a potential intruder can get into your home. All doors, porches, garages and windows should be well lit. Wireless home security systems are becoming more popular. Although wired systems are usually more affordable, they usually involve changing out the wires of your home. As a result, if a power outage occurs, these wires will probably not be effective. The wireless systems are simpler to maintain and install and they don't need power from the home to run. It's a good idea to install a surveillance system in your home. Both hidden and visible security cameras are effective in protecting your home. A visible video camera acts as a warning to an intruder. If the intruder disables the visible camera, the hidden camera will document it! You can sometimes access security systems using your cell phone, keeping you informed on the go. Don't leave the boxes of any high priced electronics on the curb of your house. This will just alert criminals to the fact that you have expensive items in your home. Cut the boxes up when they are empty. Can you locate your house number if you are standing on the street? During an emergency crisis, smaller numbers prevent emergency personnel from finding your home quickly. There is a cheap and quick fix if you see an issue. There is no need to have keyed locks on interior doors. Each entrance can be fitted with a keyless lock that requires a code to enter. These may be installed by yourself or a security company. Now that you have a better understanding of home security, it is time to get started. Don't waste any time and allow these ideas to go to waste. They can be a springboard and allow you to build on them and secure your home. You will sleep better at night knowing you have taken these important steps!

[insideapplepark]

My First Few Days with the New iPad Pro

The new iPad Pro is a triumph. I'm an Apple loyalist, so it hardly comes as a surprise that I love the new iPad Pro. Something is different this time though. Each iteration of the iPad was marginally better in terms of functionality, but each one quietly made major strides towards overcoming the horsepower of the Mac. Not only has Apple created what's arguably their most powerful portable machine, they've also blessed the new iPad Pro with their most beautiful industrial design ever. I've owned almost every generation of iPad and with each new model, I've inched closer and closer to using it as my main computer. With the iPad Air 2, I was about 45% of the way. With the first iPad Pro, I took a huge leap to about 75%. With the last iPad Pro, I inched closer to around 85%. But with this latest iPad Pro, I've hit 99%. So for all it's worth, the new iPad Pro is most definitely able to be your only computer, but it does have its shortcomings.

Design

The new iPad Pro's chassis is a stunning achievement. It's unapologetically badass. It's the first iPad to deviate from the original iPad mini design from late 2012. It's also the first iPad to pay tribute to the first generation iPad. If you put the new silver iPad Pro side-by-side with the original iPad, it looks like you could've just fast forwarded 8 years. It's the most natural progression of the original iPad design yet. It feels incredible in your hands in the way the original one did when you first picked it up. Like Shaan Pruden said at Apple's keynote in Brooklyn last week, it truly is a "magical piece of glass that can be anything you need it to be."

Accessories

The new iPad Pro is fantastic in its own right. But once you add the new Apple Pencil and the Smart Keyboard, it becomes something unlike anything else. The new Apple Pencil feels infinitely better in between your fingers. Its matte finish is grippier, making writing with the pencil so much more enjoyable. The pencil is also weighted differently, it feels much lighter. The flat edge is there to keep the pencil linked with the iPad, but it helps with writing too. I'm still stunned by the new pencil's completely natural design. Without the cap and lightning connector, it feels like it's just another pencil. It doesn't feel like technology at all. It's so nice that the pencil is always charged. With the previous pencil, I found myself having to charge it every single time before using it. The first Apple Pencil's battery would be drained in my bag sitting next to the connected iPad.

The new Smart Keyboard is virtually identical when it comes to the typing experience. The actual structure of the case however, is different. It now covers the back of the iPad Pro and has two angles. Gone are the weird Smart Cover style modules that folded up into a triangle shaped stand, replaced with a simpler folding mechanism.

Software

The new iPad Pro runs iOS 12 just like every other iPad released over the past few years. This has been the number one knock that reviewers have leveled against it. I however, think that the limitations aren't as prevalent as others do. The iPad app ecosystem is incredibly strong, even if it is missing a few key apps. At the moment, there are alternatives to virtually every Mac app. If you need a Photoshop alternative, you can use Pixelmator or Affinity Photo. Adobe is even bringing the real desktop Photoshop to the iPad next year. If you're a video editor, you can use Premiere Rush, iMovie, or a number of other great iPad video editing apps. Vector files can be edited, made and exported in apps like Vectornator or Affinity Designer. Music creators can use GarageBand, DJay, Music Memos, and more.

iOS has gotten better at handling these desktop class apps too. Split view is smooth, the dock is easily accessible from anywhere, and the new app switcher maintains your app instances. iOS 12 didn't make many strides towards improving the iPad experience, but I fully expect iOS 13 to do just that.

Project Marzipan, otherwise known officially as Apple's effort to make iOS apps run on macOS, is also on its way next year. Not only will the Mac get more apps, but the iPad will benefit from pro apps that can more easily be ported over to and from macOS.

USB-C

Lightning has been erased from the new iPad Pro and has been replaced with USB-C. It's one of my favorite things about it. While it's nice to be able to directly connect cameras and a few other accessories, the best thing about it is being able to charge other devices. If you've got a lightning to USB-C cable, you can charge your iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch from your new iPad Pro. You can even use a standard USB-C cable to charge a Nintendo Switch through the iPad Pro. My biggest gripe with it though, is that you cannot connect external storage to the new iPad Pro. Nothing happens if you connect an external hard drive to the new iPad Pro. And even if you connect an SD card, it will force you into Apple's Photos app to import only the images on the card.

Liquid Retina Display

I love that the display on these new iPad Pros goes as close to the edge as possible. There's still a thin black bezel that hugs the display, but it's far less annoying than the old forehead and chin. It's nice to have the rounded corners from the iPhone XR, but I'm noticing (much like Matt Panzarino at TechCrunch) that there's an odd, yet subtle drop shadow effect on the edges of the display close to the corners. I assume this is a direct result of the pixel masking and anti-aliasing that Apple's doing to make those corners perfectly round.

The Liquid Retina display on the new iPad Pro is bright, vibrant, colorful, and the 120 hertz refresh rate introduced with last year's iPad Pro shines. This is the best display most people will have ever purchased.

Face ID

I love Face ID on the iPhone, so it's natural that I love it on the new iPad Pro. Apple made it even better this year though, because it now works in any orientation. I really hope this makes its way to next year's iPhones. Touch ID now feels ancient.

Should You Buy It?

Yes. If you love using an iPad and want the best one you can buy, the new iPad Pro is it. I think most people should buy the smaller 11 inch model, but if you want a larger canvas or are replacing an old laptop with the new iPad Pro, you should get the 12.9 inch. The new iPad Pro also comes into two finishes, silver and space gray. I purchased the silver model and find it far more beautiful. It looks strikingly similar to the iPhone 4 and the first generation iPad, two of my favorite Apple designs ever.

If you just want a great tablet and don't plan to use it to write or create content, I'd suggest getting the 9.7 inch 2018 iPad. It's only $329 compared to the starting price of $799 with the iPad Pro. Long story short, the iPad Pro is for people who want to use an iPad as their main device and it's fantastic.

[snoopchum]

Fuvision Electrical Outlet Hidden Spy Camera Review

Worried about what’s going on at your back? Why keep worrying and stressing yourself out when you have a cool way to find out the truth. Whether you want keep an eye on your house or ensure that your babysitter treats your little one well, the Fuvision Electrical Outlet Hidden Spy Camera can help. You just need to install this smart hidden security cam in the room where the nanny spends most of the time with your baby to see how your baby is looked after in your absence.

We really like the smart concept and cool design of this non-functional electrical outlet that does the work of a hidden spy camera. Who would guess that a pretty harmless and ordinary looking electrical outlet might actually be recording their moves?

This hidden cam is actually a wonderful choice if you are seeking long term surveillance. It gives you 15 days of amazing battery life when put on PIR motion activation mode. It gives you the freedom from constantly recharging the battery. It also comes with a spare rechargeable battery. So, if you are going out for a weekend and you keep the camera on to keep your house under surveillance, you still have a replaceable battery when you come back.

Setting up the device is pretty easy. It comes with a nice manual with easy to understand instructions. You can either screw it to any wall or fix it with the Stick it 3M mounting tape. The cover plates are easy to remove and it gives you access to the Memory card slot. Although it comes with a default 16 GB memory card, it can support up to 64 GB cards.

The camera is capable of recording 1920x1080p FHD videos. It can also record sound, which is a plus. We liked the quality of video and sound which appears to be decent for a security cam. The recorded sound has good audibility that further strengthens the value of the recordings.  To view the footages, you simply need to attach the device to your PC or Mac. However check your local laws before recording audio because it is considered illegal in many states.

The motion detection ability of the cam saves a lot on battery power. It means no more useless blank recording that eat up the memory. The recording begins automatically only when the built-in sensors detect motion around it.

While the device comes with some really useful features, it lacks night vision sensors and loop recording functionality. In the absence of loop recording feature, the device will have restrictions on how much it can record. After the maximum storage space has been utilized it will stop recording as it cannot overwrite the older videos, so you will miss the latest activities.

Features

Measures 2.5 x 1.8 x 1.9 inches

Weighs 2.2 ounces

1920×1080 video resolutions @25 FPS

FHD covert surveillance

Removable storage

66 Degrees FOV

PIR Trigger recording

LED indicators

Up to 32GB memory card capacity

12 months limited warranty

Pros

Looks like an ordinary electrical outlet with undetectable camera

Comes with two face plates for different situations

LED indicators signals green light when you set it correctly

Easy installation with screws or 4-sided adhesive tape

Second replaceable and rechargeable battery comes with the package

Background sound quality is good

Video and picture quality is decent

Good performance, works as advertised

Quality is good, not cheap and flimsy

Motion detector works well and saves battery

Video comes with date and time stamp

Cons

Lacks night vision sensors so it cannot record in low light conditions

Camera cannot be adjusted up and down

It lacks real time monitoring

There’s no app that can connect your smartphone to the device

Slightly expensive for its capabilities

Summary

The Fuvision Electrical Outlet Hidden Spy Camera looks like an ordinary electrical outlet from the outside but it’s more than what meets the eye. It has a hidden security camera enclosed inside. It boasts of a long battery life of up to 15 days when put on PIR activation mode. Setting up the device will not take more than a few minutes and it blends well with your home or office décor. Your nanny or employees will never be able to guess that there’s a hidden camera behind the electrical outlet.

This security cam offers good video and audio quality. While it comes with some really cool features, it lacks loop recording functionality and night vision which somewhat limits its use.

Comparison

When we compared the device with similar products in this category such as the FreedomFox Electronics Nanny Cam and EXCEPRO Spy Hidden Nanny, we found some striking differences. The FreedomFox cam costs much less than Fuvision spy cam and it also comes with a built-in 32GB memory card which is more than what is offered by the product in review. The EXCEPRO spy cam also costs less than Fuvision cam, and comes equipped with enhanced night vision capabilities. Thus, we feel that the product in review falls short in features but still costs more than its competitors.

Verdict

If we have to pick the one thing that we like best about this product then it would be the ability of the battery to last up to 15 days on PIR activation mode, without needing charge. This one feature could make this product sell as people going on long vacations would really want a security camera that keeps their house under surveillance while they are away. The second thing would be the two batteries that come with this product. You can easily replace the exhausted battery with the replaceable and rechargeable battery without having to wait for the first one to get fully charged.

While the device has a good concealing exterior and delivers a decent performance, it falls short in terms of features when matched with competitor products. We also feel that it is pricier than other similar products in the market. You can get better value and products at this price.

Overall, we feel the Fuvision Electrical Outlet Hidden Spy Camera is good for those who frequently go on long trips and want a security cam that lasts really long to keep an eye what’s going on at home. Other than that, we don’t find any other genuine reason to vouch for this device.

[iphonefixlove-blog]

Oneplus does better on the smartphone market than Apple

The news from the mobile technology blog called Repairtech stated that the numbers otef Q2 are inside. In the period from April to June, Oneplus 6 sent 54.2 million smartphones. This makes them, after Samsung, the largest smartphone supplier in the world. Apple is now in third place due to the growth of Oneplus.

Comfortable second place in Q2 2018

There are a number of names growing rapidly in the smartphone world, including oneplus. This Chinese company has disposed of its comfortable second place in Q2 2018 and has now become the second largest smartphone supplier in the world with the maintenance of multiple Authorized oneplus service center in whitefield Samsung is number one for years and, despite a decrease of 10.4% compared to the previous year, still delivered 71.5 million units. This decrease at Samsung is probably the result of the disappointing sales figures of the Samsung Galaxy S9 (plus) .

There is a flagship killer from OnePlus. The Chinese phone maker has done everything to bring this great top device. To begin with, he got a good makeover. Not because his predecessor, the OnePlus 5T, was so bad, but to make a good phone even better. The front and back are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. Alert Slider is from the left to the right side moved him now so that you can control with your thumb. The cameras are placed in the middle so that your finger is never in front of the lens when you shoot a photo. And for the first time OnePlus brings a flagship on the market that is equipped with water-resistant materials with the water damage warranty. To get that you need to go with the oneplus 6 display replacement in whitefield

AMOLED DISPLAY 

Thanks to the huge AMOLED display you can enjoy even more of your favorite films and series. Thanks to the latest Snapdragon processor you are never shy about computing power. Also storage space is no problem, because there are variants with 64, 128 and 256 GB storage. The image sensor is 19 percent larger so the double camera on the back delivers even more beautiful pictures. Even the selfie camera has a portrait mode with bokeh effect. The 3300 mAh battery allows you to easily reach the end of the day, how long your day lasts. OxygenOS offers many extras that you will not find on other Android phones.

Difference in appliance price

In addition to Huawei, Xiaomi also climbed a lot. They have almost doubled their number of delivered devices within one year, making them in fourth place in Authorized oneplus service center in Bangalore The reason that Oneplus 6 and Xiaomi could increase so much has to do with the price of their devices. These companies sell besides top aircraft, which in comparison with other flagships still have a great price tag, also a lot of cheaper devices. Apple, on the other hand, has a much smaller range of smartphones and all with a hefty price tag. These figures are therefore only about the amount of smartphones that have been delivered and not what turnover a manufacturer has made with this.

Key specifications

•                   6.28 inch Optic AMOLED display with notch, display resolution of 2280 by 1080 pixels and 19: 9 aspect ratio

•                   Lightning fast Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 (octa-core) with clock speeds up to 2.8 GHz with 6 GB or 8 GB RAM

•                   Delivered as standard with 64 GB of memory, but also available with 128 GB or 256 GB of memory

•                   Runs on Oxygen OS, based on Android 8.1 Oreo

 The AMOLED screen of   is bigger than ever before. Despite this substantial increase, OnePlus hardly had to tinker with the dimensions of the flagship. In other words, you get even more screen with the same dimensions. Memory is never an issue with the Authorized Oneplus display replacement in Whitefield. There is a variant that has no less than 256 GB of UFS 2.1 memory.

Recording 4K video was of course also possible with its predecessors, but never before with a speed of 60 frames per second. Recording super slow-motion videos is also possible. In HD quality you record short fragments with a speed of no less than 480 images per second.

  Negatives

The Authorized oneplus service in whitefield equipped with a water-repellent foam and silicone rings on the inside. Cleaning under the tap is therefore no problem. Nevertheless not received IP certification. It is therefore better that you do not completely submerge him under water. Unfortunately OnePlus did not take the opportunity to give its flagship stereo speakers. Despite the glass panel on the back, wireless charging is not possible.

Reviews

Sledgehammer fast, super good camera and he looks good. I have the Silk White version and it feels very nice. Such a white smartphone is also something different than all those black phones that you see everywhere. I am also very satisfied with the fact that he has a headphone connection, I did not have to buy a new headset to enjoy my music on the way.

The only difference on the outside is the second camera on the back with the fingerprint scanner that is now under the camera. The device is faster and the camera is better, but that does not mean that the oneplus 5T is slow and the camera is bad. In fact, the   oneplus 6 is already a very good device. It is therefore debatable whether the upgrade is worth it.

  Note: If you are searching for oneplus 6 charging circuit replacement in whitefield you can google for Repairtech. One of the trusted mobile service center for  Authorized oneplus mobile service

[droneseco]

Doogee S95 Pro Modular Rugged Phone (and Giveaway!)

Our verdict of the Doogee S95 Pro: A hardy, ruggedized phablet-like phone that is too big to hold and let down by bulky modules with an unreliable magnet-guided connection. With high performance and suitable for hardcore mobile gaming, this is not a phone for everyday use, which may put you off.810

How often do you buy a phone and find it’s missing a feature? Perhaps the battery life isn’t quite enough… maybe it’s too easy to break the display.

With a solution to both issues comes the Doogee S95 Pro, available for around $300. A smartphone with a rugged design and Gorilla glass, it boasts top-end performance, external battery pack, and speaker modules. But is the Doogee S95 Pro a workable alternative to delicate, low-battery smartphones, or just a bit of a faff?

Unboxing the Doogee S95 Pro

Shipping in a smart black box with a magnetic lid and electric blue typeface, the packaging conveys a strong message. The inference is that you’re about to open the box on a good quality piece of kit.

Opening the Doogee S95 Pro, you’ll find… another box. This is the home of the S95 Pro phone, comfortably packaged alongside a USB Type-C data/power cable and USB adaptor.

The larger box, meanwhile, has space for the modules. With the Doogee S95 Pro, you get two modular add-ons: a battery pack, and a speaker. These are designed to attach to the rear of the phone; as such, they are slightly curved for a close fit.

The Rugged Doogee S95 Chassis

As a rugged smartphone, the Doogee S95’s chassis should be of particular interest. While as big as a Samsung Galaxy S10, the S95 has extra bulk to protect from drops. The extra protection results in a device 13.8mm thick. Meanwhile, it weighs a hefty 285g, although some of this can be attributed to the internal battery.

Despite the weight, the S95 is Doogee’s thinnest and lightest rugged phone. We’ve tested our review device in several “dropping scenarios”, banging it against walls, concrete floors, asphalt, and natural walkways in the countryside.

It’s come away with minor grazes to the rubberized exterior, and minimal (if any) scratching. The Doogee S95 comes with Gorilla Glass along with a pre-applied screen protector. This is a phone that is almost certainly ready for anything.

You probably wouldn’t want to be on the end of it, either. It’s a heavy-duty device that might prove useful for self-defense. Similarly, the S95 is hardy enough to smash a window.

It’s not all about how tough the phone is. The Doogee S95 is also waterproof, to the IP68 standard. This means the phone is waterproof to a depth of three meters, for up to four hours. It’s unlikely the phone will end up under such duress away from a river or the sea, of course. But you’ve got the reassurance that it might survive loss from height or in water for a few hours until it can be retrieved

Doogee S95 Specifications and Pricing

A dual-SIM 4G phone with a 6.3″ 1080p IPS LCD display (18:9 aspect ratio), the Doogee S95 Pro measures 6.6 x 3.1 x 0.66 inches (168 x 79.3 x 16.8mm).

Inside, the phone features a powerful Helio P90 octa-core A75 2.2GHz chip, with 8GB of UFS high-speed Samsung flash RAM. This will prove especially useful for mobile gaming, with faster performance and loading times. Meanwhile, 128GB of expandable storage is included, and the unit is powered by a 5150mAh battery.

Capable of holding 30-48 hours charge, this is the on-board power—the battery pack modular is slightly smaller (see below). There’s also support for 10W wireless charging, compatible with most wireless charge mats. Both charge methods are Quick Charge capable.

A 16MP front-facing camera is mounted in the notch, while the back camera combines a 48MP Sony IMX582 camera with an ultra-wide 117-degree 8MP camera, 8MP depth sensor, and a half-inch light sensor. These sensors are arranged in a two-by-two array on the back of the phone. They aim to deliver 10x zoom and macro shots at a 40mm distance.

With wireless charging, a thumbprint reader, and facial recognition, this is a feature-packed phone, running Android 9.0.

Two Modular Add-ons

Doogee has been producing modular phones since 2019 following a successful Kickstarter campaign. Our review of the preceding model, the Doogee S90, reveals a phone with four bundled modules.

For the S95, however, just two are included: a battery pack, and a 6W speaker with a built-in kickstand.

Battery Pack

The 3500mAh module battery is smaller than the internal 5150mAh battery but offers a welcome boost to power. Along with bring additional power to the table when the S95 runs low, the battery module recharges the main battery.

This is clearly an advantage. While you might prefer to use the battery module during periods of expected low usage, this isn’t necessary. The battery module fits the phone perfectly; while it might be bulkier with the battery attached, it’s perfectly usable.

Speaker and Stand

Also bundled with the S95 Pro is a 6W speaker module, with dual 27mm speakers. Like the battery pack, this snaps to the back of the phone. Sound quality is good—certainly better than expected—although you may prefer to keep your phone face down for music.

Thanks to a built-in stand, located between the two speakers, the module converts the S95 into a video entertainment center. Load up a movie, attach the speaker module, prop up the phone with the stand, and enjoy.

Compared with the built-in speaker, the speaker module sounds superb. I tried it out with a movie and the result was great. Meanwhile, playing a podcast in the bathroom was like having the hosts in there with me!

How Do the Modules Connect?

By now you’ve probably gathered that data and power is transferred between the S95 and its modules via the array of pogo pins. But how do the modules stay attached to the phone?

This is thanks to magnets situated inside the body of the phone and modules. These ensure the module stays attached to the phone, as well as securing the two devices around the pogo pins.

That’s the idea, at least. However, it doesn’t always work out that way. Our initial review model shipped with a weak or inverted magnet in the area of the pogo targets. This resulted in the modules not attaching to the most vital point of the phone.

Not ideal. Happily, Doogee were swift to issue a replacement device.

There is one other thing to note about the modules. Without either module connected, the rear of the Doogee S95 is a little ugly. The pogo targets are unsightly, while the “rugged” design is a little harsh.

How Good Is the Camera?

As noted earlier in the review, the Doogee S95 Pro features a 48MP camera with 10x zoom capability. It’s also designed to handle closeup work, with macro support to 40mm. These camera features can result in stunning photos, although the software plays a major part in this.

Overall, the camera is good, although the 10x zoom seems to rely heavily on the software. There’s a slightly unnatural feel to the results, with features you might normally see clearly smoothed out to produce a convincing zoom effect. The snap below was taken from around 10 meters—you can see how it has a slightly “artistic” effect.

Macro mode fares better, however, with some stunning closeup results at 40mm.

The camera also features a night mode and wide angle photography.

Doogee S95 Performance

It’s fast, it plays games and media well, and the display is impressive. The Doogee S95 phone is a nice piece of kit, and ranks 52nd following benchmarking on Antutu.

Battery life for standard use is good too… but it’s not perfect. A phone like this, that relies the existence of modular add-ons, must be judged on them as well. So, while performance is beyond what you might expect from such a rugged, hardy phone, the modules let it down.

They make the phone difficult to hold; the speaker isn’t 100% reliable. The less said about the earbuds, the better—after 30 minutes of trying to get them to connect to the phone and each other, I gave up.

Further, it’s important to take the time to give your Doogee S95 a thorough clean after outdoor pursuits. Our test device found its way into a pond. Although protected from mud and water ingress, those tight little doors are not perfect. Plenty of dirt accumulated around all three, as well as the edges of the rubberized bezel.

Using the Doogee S95 Pro as Your Daily Driver

Having spent a week with the Doogee S95 as my main phone, there is little to complain about. The biggest issue was with the launcher. While it ships with Android 9.0, there’s a version of Launcher 3 installed that doesn’t list apps in the app drawer. Instead, they’re listed in subsequent home screens, iOS-style.

Switching launchers solves this with ease. With all the usual Android apps installed (thanks Google Play!), the S95 substituted my usual phone with ease.

But it is a big phone. It’s not easy to quickly slip it into your pocket or handbag. There’s an instant weight issue, which makes me wonder of the phone and its modules are more suited to travel. After all, enhanced audio and an easily attached battery pack sound ideal for trips to the country or island beach.

Do You Need the Doogee S95 Pro?

No, you don’t. It’s a thick, heavy, rugged phone in an age of foldable lightweight hardware. There is absolutely no scenario in which anyone could possibly need a phone that doesn’t shatter on the slightest impact, or can survive a drop in the sea (or a toilet). In case you can’t tell, that was sarcasm.

So, now you’ve decided that you do need the Doogee S95, when are you going to use it? That’s the thing, you see. It’s simply not a daily driver, it’s too big. If you’re happy with a little smartphone that you can quickly get out to make calls, this isn’t a replacement.

On the other hand, if you’re a construction worker, extreme sports enthusiast, or regular traveler to national parks and island resorts, then maybe the Doogee S95 Pro is for you. You’ve got the speaker module for a bit of quality evening entertainment, the battery for extended photo and video use, and a ruggedized phone that’ll take a beating during your adventures.

Enter the Competition!

Doogee S95 Pro Giveaway

Read the full article: Doogee S95 Pro Modular Rugged Phone (and Giveaway!)

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