AT&T begins shipping LG G5 pre-orders

AT&T has started shipping the LG G5 out to those who pre-ordered the handset. Orders are set to begin arriving as soon as tomorrow, March 30, and pre-order customers should begin seeing shipping notifications soon.

Of course, the LG G5 doesn’t officially go on sale in AT&T stores until April 1, but it looks like at least some pre-order customers will get a slight head start. In any case, if you’ve received a shipping notification from AT&T, be sure to head to our forums and chime in.

LG G5

• LG G5 hands-on
• LG G5 complete specs
• LG G5 CAM Plus module
• LG G5 B&O Hi-Fi audio module
• The G5 has an always-on display
• LG G5 keeps the SD card, shuns adoptable storage
• Join the LG G5 discussion

EE TV Recordings To Go enables mobile viewing, takes fight to Sky Q

EE TV was ahead of its time in many ways when it launched in 2014, offering a number of features that until recently, weren’t available on any other TV platform.

Not one to shy away from new features, EE TV has just added a great new option, called Recordings To Go. The name should reveal what this is all about, but it essentially means you can take your recordings with you, something that Sky Q also offers as a headline feature. 

Within the new EPG, or via the updated app, you’ll be able to designate programmes that you want to set as Recordings To Go and these will be synced to your tablet or phone so you can watch them when and where you like.

There’s no expiry date on the these transferred recordings and you can watch content from across EE TV’s Freeview offering immediately, meaning you can have Match of the Day recorded and transferred to your tablet to watch on the train.

The content transferred to your mobile device can be viewed whenever you want to, with no need for an internet connection, making it ideal for air travel, for example.

EE TV offers a very modern take on a set-top box, as you can view up to four different programmes on different devices all at the same time, as well as being able to move your current live viewing onto your tablet to take into a different room. 

EE TV is available to EE broadband customers.

What is Google Fiber Phone and where can you get it?

Landlines are still a thing, apparently, but Google just introduced a service that aims to bring them up to date.

Google is getting into the home phone business, with a new service called Google Fiber Phone. It’s part of the company’s Fiber brand that consists of broadband internet and cable television. By adding a phone service, it’s essentially offering a triple-play package, which makes Google look like a modern-day cable provider, though we doubt it would like that comparison.

Google

Google Fiber Phone: What is it?

Google Fiber Phone is actually very similar to Google’s mobile Fi service.

You get unlimited local and nationwide calls, international calls (at rates that match what Google Voice charges), caller ID, call waiting, 911 service, voicemail transcription, privacy controls (like spam filtering, call screening, do-not-disturb), and the ability to answer calls from mobile devices.

You can even keep your existing phone number if you already have a landline service, or you can select a new one. 

Google Fiber Phone: Is this a physical phone?

It’s a phone service. But you will get a standalone, wireless handset, which you can use to make your calls, Engadget has reported.

That being said, your Google Fiber Phone number “lives in the cloud,” according to Google’s blog post, thus allowing you to forward all calls from your home phone landline to your mobile device. In other words: you can be in your car or out and about, and then you can use your own smartphone or tablet to answer calls that would normally go to your house phone.

Google Fiber Phone: How much is it?

Google Fiber Phone costs a flat $10 a month (not including taxes and fees and international call rates).

Google Fiber Phone: Where is it available?

Unfortunately, the service is initially only launching in a few areas in the US and US cities that already have access to Google Fiber, such as: Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Kansas City, Nashville, Provo, Raleigh-Durham, Salt Lake City, and San Antonio. Google said it can’t bring Fiber Phone to everyone at the same time, so it is doing it in phases.

You can sign up for updates using this interest form. 

Google Fiber Phone: Want to know more?

We’re in early-days territory here, so details are scarce, but the Google Fiber Phone website has all the beginner information you need to know. You can also check out Google’s announcement blog post.

Online map shows North Carolina’s transgender-friendly bathrooms

Oppressed groups have a knack for writing guides to avoid discrimination, and that’s truer than ever in the internet era. MIT web designer Emily Rae Waggoner has created a Google map that helps you find transgender-friendly bathrooms in North Carolina, where a recently enacted law (commonly known under its bill name, HB2) makes it illegal to use facilities that aren’t intended for your biological sex. Waggoner is taking submissions from across the state, but she uses social networking help prove that a given establishment really is welcoming — say, a Twitter post offering resistance to HB2.

With just 85 listings as of this writing, this isn’t a huge or comprehensive map. However, it’s proof that custom mapping tools like Google’s My Maps are useful for more than just plotting your hiking trail or marking favorite places to eat. In a case like this, they can provide safe havens and send a political message.

Via: BuzzFeed News, MIT Tech Review (Twitter)

Source: Google Maps

Waze will warn you when you’re speeding

If you drive in unfamiliar areas often enough, you’ve probably run into situations where you couldn’t spot a speed limit sign or were too busy finding your way to notice. However, Waze has some relief in sight: it just started rolling out an alert feature that makes it clear when you’re breaking the speed limit on a given street. You can tell it whether or not to sound an alert, and even force the alert to show only when you run over the limit by a set percentage — helpful for those fast-paced roads where obeying the limit actually makes you a hazard.

The catch? If you’re reading this, you probably can’t use the alerts… yet. Waze is launching the feature in just 16 countries, most of which are in mainland Europe and Latin America. The rest of the world is getting it “soon,” though, so don’t despair if you tend to keep a heavy foot on the accelerator.

Via: VentureBeat

Source: Waze

AT&T offers unlimited data on U-verse, with a catch

AT&T’s U-verse internet service has had data transfer caps for years, but they’re about to come off… if you’re fiercely loyal to the company, anyway. The telecom is re-introducing unlimited data on May 23rd that will be free of charge, but only as long as you’re also subscribing to either DirecTV or U-verse TV on the same bill. Determined to cut the cord? Unfortunately, it’ll cost you $30 extra to get that same privilege.

This isn’t to say that the carrier is throwing you under the bus if you’re an internet-only customer, as it’s increasing U-verse caps across the board. Users on the more common tiers will jump from 250GB to either 300GB (for the under-6Mbps crowd) or 600GB (12Mbps to 75Mbps), while those with 100Mbps and up will move from a 500GB cap to 1TB. Should that not be enough, you’ll pay $10 for every 50GB you need over the limit; the provider will waive that overage fee the first two times.

AT&T notes that most people probably won’t run into those ceilings — just 4 percent of U-verse customers use more, it says. While that’s true, the move isn’t quite as generous as it seems. As with Comcast’s data cap tests, this is more about softening the blow as more people ditch conventional TV, whether by discouraging internet-only service or making more money if you insist on making the leap.

Source: AT&T Consumer Blog

Use Feverprints to better understand your body temperature

The Apple Health app will autonomously track your steps and other wellness data, sure, but Boston Children’s Hospital wants its iOS app Feverprints to help you keep an eye on something else throughout the day: your temperature. What Feverprints hopes to achieve by using vast amounts of anonymized data is gaining a better idea of what the normal range of temperatures for a human is, at different times through the day. This could eventually lead to better care and diagnoses of fevers. Simply judging your readings against the standard 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit and calling it good doesn’t quite cut it when that temperature isn’t the baseline for everyone.

“We want to help create a better understanding of the normal temperature variations throughout the day, to learn to use fever as a tool to improve medical diagnosis, and to evaluate the effect of fever medications on symptoms and disease course,” project lead Jared Hawkins says in a prepared statement.

But the app won’t do everything for you. You’ll still have to log your temperature multiple times per day, but Feverprints will remind you to do so, and will anonymize your data. By collecting enough temperature data, the team says that defining “unique patterns of temperature” could aid in diagnosing infections or seeing how effective that gross syrup you just choked down was. Want to get started? Download the app and grab a thermometer — some things still need to be done the old fashioned way.

Source: Eurekalert, Feverprints, iTunes

Samsung Galaxy TabPro S review – CNET

The Good Samsung wisely includes a keyboard cover in the box. Battery life is excellent, and the AMOLED display is better than the screens in much more expensive systems.

The Bad The single configuration is stuck with a sluggish Core M processor, and the keyboard cover allows only two screen angles, neither of which may be right for you.

The Bottom Line Samsung builds a lot of value into the Galaxy TabPro S, including a keyboard cover and advanced display in a very slim Windows tablet.

Samsung’s latest PC takes the name of its Galaxy line of Android phones and tablets, despite running the Windows 10 operating system. The Galaxy TabPro S is a new tilt at one of the most persistent windmills in technology — crafting the perfect Windows tablet.

Cracking the Windows tablet code has been a quest that computer makers have obsessed over for years. It’s a quest that goes back to the days before Windows 10 or even Windows 8, and even before Apple’s iPad made slate-style tablets everyday household objects. Some would say it’s less of a quest and more of a fool’s errand, full of false starts and overhyped promises.

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Sarah Tew/CNET

Most of the time, the Windows operating system and the PC apps that run on it just aren’t designed with the same single-tap access, consistent navigation, and optimal screen scaling as apps that live in the walled garden of iOS and the iPad. Even when Windows 8 introduced a tablet-friendly interface, it failed to scratch that particular itch, and instead just made everyday computing tasks more cumbersome.

Why is it so hard to make a Windows tablet that feels both useful and intuitive, while also providing the kind of instant gratification the best gadgets offer? It’s because we still need these devices to do double duty as everyday workstations for email, office documents and shopping, on top of the easy tap-swipe-flick of media watching and games. Most PC makers have settled on hybrid machines that are full-time laptops and part-time tablets, such as the Lenovo Yoga series, but these are not iPad alternatives and never will be.

Microsoft has come the closest to date, with its evolving Surface line. Over the course of four generations, the Surface tablet has become an excellent overall product, thanks to extensive work in tweaking the physical design, including perfecting the adjustable kickstand and magnetic keyboard cover. I’d recommend the latest Surface Pro 4 as the go-to Windows tablet, but it has a fatal flaw — it’s expensive. That’s because the keyboard cover — by every account a required accessory for even basic everyday use — doesn’t come with the Surface. It instead must be purchased separately, for a not-insignificant $129, on top of a tablet that runs from $899 (£749 or AU$1,349) to $1,799. That puts even the most affordable Surface Pro 4 north of the thousand-dollar mark, an important psychological and practical barrier.

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Sarah Tew/CNET

The Samsung Galaxy TabPro S sets out to emulate the best parts of the Surface line, while also correcting some of its flaws. The biggest news here is that the single currently available configuration, combining a 12-inch AMOLED display (more on that in a minute) with an Intel Core m3 CPU and a 128GB solid-state drive, is $899 (£849, not currently available in Australia), which includes a very familiar-looking and -feeling keyboard cover. With that simple move, including the keyboard in the box, Samsung earns a tip of my virtual hat for showing some respect for consumers.

Samsung Galaxy TabPro S

But the Galaxy TabPro S isn’t perfect, even though it represents an excellent overall value. The keyboard cover, while solid-feeling and very usable, isn’t as evolved as the one on the latest Surface, the Surface Pro 4. The Surface keyboard has moved to island-style keys, closer to what you’d find on a traditional laptop, while the Samsung keyboard has tightly packed keys that do not feel as natural to use.

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Samsung’s new Galaxy TabPro S comes with a snazzy keyboard case that offers two comfortable typing positions.

Sarah Tew/CNET

The Samsung keyboard is also loud and clacky, as opposed to the soft-touch quiet keyboard on the Surface (maybe that’s why Microsoft insists on charging an additional $129 for it). Both have strong magnetic connections that hold the two halves securely together, but the Samsung cover wraps all the way around, covering the front and back of the tablet, while the Surface version is a front cover only, leaving the back of the tablet exposed. That offers more protection, but the slate also popped out of its cover a few times when I was snapping the screen into place.

You’ll miss the kickstand

Ergonomically, there’s one area where the Galaxy TabPro S beats the Surface Pro 4, and one where it falls behind. Removed from its cover, the actual slate portion of the TabPro S is amazingly thin and light, weighing just 1.52 pounds (689g), versus 1.76 pounds (798g) for the Surface Pro 4.

Artbrew Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Artbrew

Based on the specs and features, Artbrew could be the beer making machine I’ve been hoping for. Between the app and the onboard LCD controls, it looks prepared to walk the line between ease-of-use simplicity and detailed options for customization if you want them.

You’ll pick from a variety of recipes or create your own. You can use your own ingredients if you have them or order packs from Artbrew’s website or app. At that point, you can simply add water and the ingredients and hit start, or you can further fine tune your beer if you want to customize how heavy it is, how hoppy it is, or even how alcoholic it is.

Reasons for optimism

As Artbrew works, you can track the progress of your creation on the app. Artbrew connects to Wi-Fi, and you’ll also get a push notification if you need to take any action. It handles almost everything itself, though you’ll need to add yeast to the mix after it cooks so your beer can ferment. Additionally, Artbrew adds up to four different types of hops automatically, but if you want more than that, you can add them in manually during the cook, and Artbrew will let you know when it’s the right time to do so.

You can order ingredient packs.

Artbrew

The similar Picobrew Zymatic took care of the early stages of brewing as well, but you had to cool the mixture yourself before you could add the yeast and start fermenting. Artbrew takes care of that for you. And you can leave the included MiniKeg inside the Artbrew during fermentation, and it’ll maintain an appropriate temp during the couple of weeks it takes your beer to be ready to drink.

Other beer-making bots

• Picobrew Pico
• Brewie
• Brewbot

If you’d like, you can take the MiniKeg with your fermenting beer out of Artbrew, ferment it somewhere else and use a separate MiniKeg to start a different batch. Just like with unassisted homebrewing, the initial stages of brewing with Artbrew will take a few hours and fermentation will last anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks.

The Artbrew and the included MiniKeg let you brew 5L or 1.3 gallons of beer at a time. The Zymatic has roughly twice that capacity, but the Artbrew supposedly fits nicely on your countertop. The Zymatic really didn’t. Artbrew also gains an advantage by including a cycle specifically designed to clean the inner compartments between batches.

Artbrew ships with a MiniKeg.

Artbrew

Reasons for caution

With an expected retail price of $989, Artbrew’s also an easier splurge than the $2,000 Zymatic or Brewie — a similar beer-brewing bot that also costs $2,000. But Artbrew still has a lot to prove to be worth the cost. For one, its temperature controls will need to be precise, as even small variances can produce off flavors. It’ll need to cycle water effectively to agitate the grain during the early stages of the brew or the beer will taste thin. And obviously, the rest of the mechanisms need to prove as effective and easy-to-use in practice as they are in theory.

Outlook

If you’re willing to gamble that Artbrew fulfills its promises, you can contribute to its Kickstarter campaign starting today and get it for a hefty discount. The lowest early-bird pricing is an especially attractive $489. Artbrew is available worldwide. The $989 retail price converts to roughly £690 and AU$1,310 for our readers in the UK and Australia respectively. The Kickstarter discount converts to around £350 and AU$660. The company hopes to ship models starting in September of this year, so get your Oktoberfest recipes ready.

Fitbit Alta review

Buy now from Amazon

Fitbit is a company that excels at fitness tracking features but falls short with design. It’s been that way for years now. The Charge HR and Surge aren’t the worst looking devices out there, but the company didn’t really start focusing on good design until this year with the launch of the Blaze and the Alta.

The Fitbit Alta in particular probably won’t pass as a piece of high-end jewelry, but it does look a little less like a standard Fitbit device. It’s sleeker, slimmer and all around better looking than its predecessors. It also comes with most of the features many folks are looking for in a fitness tracker.

Looks are just the half of it, though. How does it perform, and in what areas does it excel? That’s what we’re here to find out in our full Fitbit Alta review.

Review notes: I’ve been using the Fitbit Alta as my main fitness tracker for 13 days. The Nexus 6P has been my smartphone companion of choice for the duration of this review.

Design

One of the first things you’ll notice about the Alta is that it doesn’t look a whole lot like its predecessors. The Surge, Charge HR and Flex all featured a similar design language, but now it looks like Fitbit is moving away from that. The Alta is slim, measuring just 15.5mm wide, and it’s light enough that you’ll forget you’re wearing it most of the time. On the front it has a big scratch-resistant OLED display that’s much bigger than what you’d find on the Charge and Flex.

You won’t find any buttons on the Alta, and that’s because Fitbit decided to include a touch sensitive display this time around. It’s important to note that this isn’t a touch screen, it’s only touch sensitive. You can wake the Alta’s display by lifting your wrist or double-tapping the screen, and you can scroll through your daily stats by tapping on the bottom or the side of the display. This will allow you to see the time, your steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned and active minutes.

Unregistered taps get annoying very fast

I really value the larger screen size on the Alta, but I have had a few problems getting the device to recognize my taps. Sometimes tapping on the display doesn’t register, which gets annoying really fast. I almost would have preferred a single physical button on the side, similar to what’s offered on the Charge line. Fitbit likely removed the button for aesthetic appeal, but I just wish is was better implemented.

The display is encased in a stainless steel body that can be easily removed if you’d like to change out the straps. The retail version of the Alta comes with a silicone strap, but you can also buy leather and stainless steel bands from Fitbit for $59.95 and $99.95, respectively. Like I mentioned in our Fitbit Blaze review, I love the fact that there are other bands available for the Alta, but I think they’re just too expensive.

Related: Fitbit Blaze review8

Since the Alta is so narrow, Fitbit has employed the same lock mechanism that’s found on the Flex. It sure looks nice, but most of the time I really struggle to put it on. To secure it to your wrist, you need to fit two pegs into two holes, all while balancing the Alta on your wrist to fit it to the right size. The pegs are pretty difficult to secure into the holes, and there have been times I’ve actually given up on wearing it for a few hours because I couldn’t get it on right away.

Once you successfully put it on, though, the Alta is very comfortable. The silicone strap feels very premium and doesn’t attract a lot of dust or hair.

Features and performance

The Fitbit Alta has all the basics covered. It can track your daily activity, your sleep, and your exercise sessions. It doesn’t have a GPS or heart rate monitor on board, but it does come with a few extra features that will make this device a little more attractive than its predecessors.

For starters, to help take advantage of that big display, the Alta can give you text, call and calendar notifications. They all work pretty well for the most part, though I have noticed text messages get cut off after only a few words. Other than that small caveat, the Alta does a great job at notifying you when your phone goes off. And unlike with the Blaze, I have not experienced any connectivity issues whatsoever.

Fitbit has also included move reminders on the Alta. It will notify you every hour if you haven’t reached your hourly goal of 250 steps. You can adjust the time these notifications are turned on, and you can even turn them off for specific days of the week. This is by far one of my favorite parts about the device. It really motivated me to get up and move, even more so than my daily step goal.

Like I mentioned earlier, the Alta can track your steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned and active minutes. It’s very accurate, which isn’t surprising — step tracking and other basic fitness tracking functions are all areas in which Fitbit excels, and the Alta is just as good as any other Fitbit device out there. As is the case with my other reviews, I walked 500 steps down the road with the Alta and counted each one along the way. The device started at 5,478 steps and ended with 5,969, which meant it was just 9 steps off from being spot on. Not bad at all!

I also tested step tracking on the Alta against the Jawbone UP3, Charge HR, Blaze, and the Garmin vivosmart HR. For the most part, the device seems to be in line with its competitors.

Don’t miss: Fitbit Charge HR review3

Workouts are recorded automatically

Since the Alta doesn’t come with any buttons, you won’t be able to set a workout timer or manually start an exercise. It uses Fitbit’s SmartTrack feature that will recognize different exercises and automatically record them in the smartphone companion app. All in all, I really enjoy this feature. It’s worked quite well for me over the past few weeks, and I haven’t had any problems with it recording the wrong exercises. It’ll also recognize when you go to sleep and record your data in the app when you wake up. Even though it doesn’t give you a ton of granular details on sleep stats, the information it does show should be more than enough for the average user.

It doesn’t have a heart rate monitor or GPS, which isn’t all too surprising considering how Fitbit is marketing the device. It’s meant for the average user that doesn’t need all that “extra” stuff. It can do the basics, and it can do them well.

One other notable omission from the Alta is proper waterproofing, and unfortunately this is par for the course with Fitbit devices. Most folks who use fitness trackers regularly (including myself) would love to see a Fitbit that’s completely waterproof, not just “sweat, rain and splash proof.” I’m really hoping Fitbit stops shrugging off this feature and includes it in its next round of wearables.

The charger is really awkward to use, but luckily you won’t have to use it that often

Fitbit says the Alta can last up to 5 days on a single charge, and I can back up that claim. I was able to get the Alta to last 5-6 days on a single charge, even with exercising every day. It’s a really good thing you won’t need to charge the Alta any more than that, because the included charger is pretty bad. It feels cheap and it’s pretty short. It’s also awkward to use — you need to line up the charging pins with the contacts on the bottom of the Alta, then clamp it on to the device. It’d be much easier to charge it with a Micro USB cable, but unfortunately that’s not an option.

For the full list of specs, take a look at the table below:

Software

I’ve said this time and time again, I’m a huge fan of Fitbit’s smartphone companion app. It puts all the information you need right on the home page, and it’s incredibly easy to adjust settings if you need to. The main screen, or Dashboard, is where you’ll see your device, steps, distance, calories, active minutes, sleep stats and more. You can tap on a statistic to get more detailed information about your progress for that day, or to view your stats for the past week, month or year.

Tapping on the device name will bring you to the settings menu, where you can change notification settings, create move reminders, adjust your clock display and a few other things. There’s also a slide out menu to the left that gives you quick access to your daily challenges, friends and account settings. The built-in social features are really nice, as they allow you to connect with other Fitbit users and see how they’re doing.

You can even share data from the Fitbit app with a number of other services. Whether you’re using Lose It!, RunKeeper or MyFitnessPal, you’ll be able to share your data between applications.

Gallery

Should you buy it?

Buy now from Amazon

The Fitbit Alta costs just $129 on Amazon, which is about the same price as other fitness trackers with the same feature set.

If you’re in the market for an affordable, attractive fitness tracker that can handle the basics with little to no problems at all, you should buy the Fitbit Alta. Considering the company has been focusing mostly on features for the past few years, this is definitely a breath of fresh air in terms of aesthetics. It’s not the most powerful fitness tracker out there, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s comfortable, easy to use, inexpensive, and looks good while doing it.